


Girl Long Lost

by GazDibMama



Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Family Drama, Humor, Light Angst, Recreational Drug Use, There should probably be more but I am so bad at tagging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-08 15:13:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6860251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GazDibMama/pseuds/GazDibMama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tig goes on a road trip, comes back with someone who will turn life upside down for one of his brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As always, not beta'd. So all the mistakes are mine alone.
> 
> Since I am in the process of updating other fics (Unexpected Arrangement, The Other Trager Girl, etc... and so on), here's something to snack on. 
> 
> This is a fic I have to be honest, I really love parts of and other parts I'm a little...meh.
> 
> And as always, Tig is a huge part of this one too. I love Tiggy. Yes, he's nuts and probably should not be allowed out into the unsuspecting populace, but he's loyal and with those he loves, an absolute push-over. I love the dichotomy that is Tiggy.

Chapter One

Sometimes he just had to get away, just get on his bike and ride, needing to get away from the chaos of the club, the chaos in his head. And after the shit with Clay, Pope, what happened to Dawn, and then what Jax had done to not only get him clear of Pope, but also let him extract revenge for Dawn, well, he had certainly had enough chaos for the moment. 

It was the same every time. He’d ride for hours, pull off into some small town and find a quiet bar with food that was within stumbling distance from a motel. Get something to eat, drink himself into oblivion, and then stumble to his room and pass the fuck out.

He never wore his kutte when he did this. Never took a woman to bed. These ‘vacations’, as he thought of them, were about getting out of his life for just a moment, and he was a smart enough man to know that part of getting out of his life meant not using a woman as a hole to stick his dick in.

He found a place that fit his requirements, and checked into a surprisingly nice motel room despite the run down condition of the outside. Guess they put the money where it really fuckin’ mattered. The old coot at the front desk directed him to the bar next door, stating that it was the best food in town. Probably the only food after dark.

It was a typical small town bar and grill, probably did decent business during lunch and dinner hours and maybe Friday and Saturday nights, but other than that, nearly deserted. Which was fine with him. It made being left alone much easier.

He had a burger and fries with his beer. There were three people in the bar other than the bartender and cook. The old coot at the front desk had been right, the food here was good.

When he finished eating, he began to order shot after shot of whiskey, moving to a table to avoid conversations. As he sat there drinking, trying hard not to think, he saw the door open, and she walked in.

She wasn’t his usual type. Though beautiful, she was too thin, tits too small, her skin too fair, and her hair an abnormal cherry red. Plus the intelligence in her dark eyes was kind of scary and seemed out of place here. But at least she was something to look at.

He watched her as she read the menu. As she waited for her food and drank the soda she had ordered. Watched as she would pull pieces off of her sandwich with long, elegant fingers, absentmindedly eating them while reading a book she had pulled out of a massive purse.

He had nearly laughed out loud at her response to one of the scrawny redneck’s stupid question about why she would be reading in a bar. She had turned to the idiot, looked him up and down as if he were radioactive, and in a bored, superior tone answered, “Other than because I can? How about it usually saves me from having to talk to inbred, retarded fucks like you.” Then turned her back on the stupid fuck completely. She may have not been his type, physically, but he had the odd feeling that she was someone he could, as fucked up as it sounded, even in his head, like, as a friend.

He got up to go take a piss and when he came back out, she wasn’t at the bar. He started to look around when the bartender nodded his head towards the back, “If you’re looking for the girl, she went out to the smoking area.” He nodded and headed out back.

 

Chapter Two

She was standing in the middle of the smoking area, smoking her cigarette, and staring up at the sky. His boot hit a piece of glass on the ground, the grinding noise breaking the silence.

She looked at him as he lit his own cigarette, “Evenin’ doll.”

“Evening.” Instead of the bored, superior tone he had heard earlier, her voice was now soft and low. He noticed it held no accent. None at all. No indications of where she might be from. She turned her face back to the sky, blowing smoke at the stars.

“Whatcha lookin’ at? Waitin’ for a shooting star to wish on?” There was a strange serenity to her that he felt the need to shake up a bit. It was his nature.

He liked her laugh. “No. Figured out that was a boatload of crap by the time I was six.” Turning, she faced him, and the eyes that he thought were a dark brown were actually an almost navy blue. “They made me think of a song lyric. So I was just enjoying the song in my head.”

He wasn’t sure what he had expected her to say, but he knew that wasn’t it.

She grinned at him, “Not the answer you expected?”

“Not really.” He continued smoking, “Is it a happy song?” He wasn’t sure why he asked, but he wanted to know. But that was nothin’ new, him not knowing exactly why he did shit.

“Not particularly, but it’s a song I find reassuring.” She replied.

He stared at her again and then started to laugh, “You’re a weird chick, doll.”

She smiled widely, “You’d be surprised at how often I hear that.” She threw her cigarette into a sand filled bucket, “I’m thinking of getting drunk. Wanna join me?”

He was a bit taken aback, the question had no come on attached. Just a friendly invitation.

“Sure doll, why not?” He followed her back inside.

Chapter Three

He woke up the next morning, fully clothed, other than his boots, in her motel room. As he tried opening his eyes, he could feel something blocking them. Reaching up, he pulled a post it note off of his face. He laughed as he read it.

‘Tig  
Went to get coffee. The creepy old guy says there’s a café on  
Main Street. Ibuprofen and water to your right. Bottle of Jack on  
the floor. Don’t even look for the weed. Took it with me. Back   
in a bit.  
Harlow’

He swallowed a few pills with the water and then took a swig of Jack, letting his body know it was time to let the hangover go. As he laid there, waiting for her to get back, he thought about last night.

Smiling, he remembers finally getting her name. At first he thought Harlow was her last name. She finally ‘fessed up to her full name, Sasha Harlow Perry, after about five shots. Chuckling, she stated it was really all the proof she needed to know that her mother was one of three things, a stripper, a hooker, or just fucking vapid. Jesus, he had laughed at the knowing look on her face when he informed her of the possibility that she had been all three.

They had gotten close to drunk by the time the bar was getting ready to close. She had managed to talk the bartender into selling them a couple of bottles of Jack Daniel’s. 

He had invited himself to her room, saying he wanted to hear the song she had been listening to in her head when he first talked to her. She was right. The song wasn’t very happy, but it was reassuring.

He had also noted her reaction to his bike. She raised a sarcastic eyebrow, asking him if he was a ‘motorcycle enthusiast’ or was he an actual biker. When he asked her if it would bother her if he were an ‘actual biker’. She simply shook her head and ushered him into her room.

They had spent the rest of the night drinking, smoking her really good weed, listening to music, and just talking. It was, for him, one of the strangest nights he had spent with a woman in ages. While there had been mild, bantering flirting, at no point did either one of them truly hit on the other.

His reverie was interrupted as the door opened and she came in with coffee and doughnuts. She handed him a coffee and the bag, “Didn’t know what kind of doughnut, so there are a couple of sugar raised. Need cream or sugar?”

He shook his head, looking at her. He then started to laugh hysterically. She frowned at him for a moment, until she realized where he was looking, “Oh! You like the t-shirt?”

Still laughing, he nodded. It was funny, in a totally inappropriate way. Especially for a chick. The dark gray t-shirt read  
‘Duct Tape  
Turning “No! No!”  
Into “Mmph! Mmph!”  
Since 1943’  
“I bet the coffee shop people loved that, doll.”

She shrugged and then grinned, “Nah. The Grandma that runs the place told me it was a highly improper shirt. Told her it was probably the least improper thing about me.”

He laughed. He liked her. She was smart, she was funny, and tough as hell. From what little he had gleaned from her the night before, she had no established home, never had. Her mother had died shortly after her birth, so it had been just her and her dad, who was a gambler. Never stayed anywhere more than a week or so. Had never gone to school, her dad had educated her, well, as far as he could see. Dad bailed when she was sixteen, leaving her with a car, cash, and papers. She was a writer, managing to publish a novel at nineteen that has sold well enough for her to keep doing it, publishing two more collections of short stories in the last sixteen years since the novel. Said she was finishing work on a third. But she had kept moving, on her own.

She lit a joint and after taking a hit, handed it to him, “I’m making you go get lunch. I refuse to deal with Grandma again today, but I’ve gotta be honest, the roast beef she was cooking smelled awesome.”

“Deal, doll.” Handing the joint back to her, “I’m gonna go grab my shit from my room, check out.” He gauged her reaction, wanting to see if they were on the same page. He didn’t really want to fuck her, but for some reason that he couldn’t fathom, he felt a need to be close.

“Okay. But I get the shower first…roomie.” Her smile telling him she was right there with him.

Chapter Four

He checked out, the old coot giving him a knowing leer. He wanted to punch the old man, but managed to restrain himself.

By the time he got back to what was now ‘their’ room, she had already showered, dressed, put on make-up, and was now doing something on a laptop, smoking a cigarette. She barely looked up at his arrival.

After taking a shower himself, they spent the rest of the morning hanging out, smoking joints, and watching a bad action movie on the TV, which he laughed through because of her unrelenting commentary.

When it came time for him to go get lunch, she threw him the keys to her ancient Jeep Wagoneer, giving him directions to the café saying that she would call in their order and he should prepare to be disapproved of.

She’d been right about that. The fucking old biddy looking at him like he was a dirty old man, assuming he was sleeping with the ‘young lady’ who called in the order. He didn’t bother correcting the old woman. He found her disapproval amusing.

On his way back, the sun in his eyes, he pulled the visor down. An old Polaroid floated down, landing face down on his lap. When he pulled into the parking space at the motel, he picked it up, planning on returning it to where it came from.

As he turned it over, he froze. There was Harlow, probably no older than twelve, thirteen. She was sitting on a Harley, a smile as big as the sun, in front of a man he recognized, Lawrence ‘Mac’ McKenna, now President of SAMYORK. What the fuck? He wasn’t angry, she didn’t know he was SAMCRO. But he was damn sure he wanted answers. Food was forgotten.

When he got back into the room, she was still sitting at the table, but now reading a book. He gently sat the picture on top of the book, “Care to explain, doll?” He kept his voice neutral, but firm, “How do you know Mac?”

“How do you know Mac?” She didn’t look nervous, she looked…anticipatory.

Walking over to his bag, he pulled out his kutte, laying it out on the bed. He watched as she walked over, her hands moving towards it almost reverently. He nodded as she glanced at him briefly. She gently ran a finger over the reaper on the back, her voice soft enough that he had to strain to hear her.

“That picture? That was the happiest day of my life. My Dad and I had been staying at the SAMYORK clubhouse for about ten days already. For once I wasn’t shut up in a hotel. Mac and his wife had taken a shine to me,” Seeing a trace of the smile that was in the Polaroid, “And I thought they were…well fuck, I thought they were awesome.” The smile got a little bigger, “That day Mac had taken me for a ride, asked me if I wanted to stay, that he, Mary, and the club could be my family. I could go to school, have friends, to be a somewhat normal kid.” The smile faded some, “That picture was taken about half an hour after he asked me.”

He could see she was shaking, but knew that if he tried to touch her right now, she would freak the fuck out.

“What happened?” He said it softly, trying not to spook her.

He watched as she lit a cigarette, her hands still shaking. “Mary said something about it to my dad. He didn’t say yes or no, but in the middle of the night he took me out of there while I was sleeping. By the time I woke up, we were in Pennsylvania. Haven’t slept through the night since. We stayed away from cities that had an SOA charter, or at least stayed below the biker radar. Until that night, I had never felt any sort of hatred for my dad, even with all the shit we’d already been through.”

“Why didn’t you go back to them after your dad left ya?” He wasn’t sure if he really wanted an answer.

“I found out Mary died of an aneurysm about six months after my dad took me away.” For a hot second he could almost see the child she had probably never been allowed to be. “I was afraid Mac would blame me.”

“Wasn’t your fault, doll. Mac never woulda blamed ya. He would have taken ya in.” He needed her to believe that. He didn’t know why, he just did.

Before she could reply, her cel went off. Showing him her trust, she put the call on speaker. “Lillian.” Mouthing ‘literary agent’ to him. Whatever the fuck that was.

“Harlow darling, where are you?” The voice was shrill, with a New England accent.

“Cheap motel in Weaverville, California. Why?” Rolling her eyes.

“Because darling, I have a manuscript to send back to you. Julian wants it down to six hundred pages or less. Julian also said to tell you he is still hung over from two weeks ago. You have to stop torturing him. And I have the contract for the movie rights for you to go over. No check until it’s signed and sent back. And it’s such a nice check too. Will you be there long enough for me to mail all of this?” The woman sounded craven and impatient, like the check was the most important thing. It set his teeth on edge.

“Don’t know. I’ll get someplace I’m comfortable having stuff mailed to and let you know.” He didn’t like how tight her voice was getting, she was close to the edge emotionally, and he was leery of her going over it.

“Harlow. Honey. You are almost thirty-five years old now. Don’t you think it’s time to stop running? Get an apartment, see how it feels to be somewhere longer than two weeks. Get a boyfriend. Put down some roots. It’s what normal people do, darling.” This woman was getting on his nerves, so much so, he failed to see the warning signs.

Harlow exploded, “Normal?! Normal?! Really?! Remember when I went to go get my passport when I was eighteen? I get hauled in and held at federal detention because there was no fucking record of my birth!” She had to set the phone on the table, her hands were shaking so. He had no fucking clue how to deal with this.

She raged on, “All I had was an incredibly well forged birth certificate and social security card. And after they searched my stuff, they find a fingerprint match to dozens of murders on the rosary my father gave me! Remember?! I spent five days Lillian, five fucking days being questioned, tested, and then finding out my father wasn’t who he said he was. No fucking records for an Asa Perry. Feds tell me they have no idea who he is other than a professional hit man. And then the best part, even my mother’s name is fake! How does anyone get to normal after that?”

He sat there a little stunned for the moment. Apparently her father wasn’t just the gambler she had alluded to.

By now there were tears streaming down her face. He wasn’t sure she even noticed as her tirade continued, “Tell me Lillian, because I sure as fuck haven’t figured it out! And a boyfriend?! Are you smoking crack?! Anything longer than a couple of nights, anything close to the truth, they either run like pussies, or look at me like I’m fucking broken!” She had put her hands in her hair like she was trying to keep her head from exploding. “I’m hanging up now Lillian. I’ll call you back when I don’t feel the fucking urge to strangle you with your fucking pearls.”

Grabbing the phone off of the table, she disconnected the call and threw the phone on the bed. He really did not know what to do. Damsels in distress was Jax’s territory.

“Shit doll…” He tried to reach for her, but she backed away, shoving her feet into a pair of red Converse, heading for the door.

“Gotta go for a bit, need to calm down. Last time I got this wound up, it ended with me paying twenty-five hundred dollars in hotel damages and needing a new laptop. I’ll be back.” Grabbing her smokes and slamming the door behind her.

He sat down on the bed and pulled the bottle of Jack from the nightstand to him. That was one of the more disturbing things he had been witness to, and that was saying a lot considering the shit he’s seen. He had no fuckin’ clue what to do, so he did the only thing he could, he pulled out his cel.

Chapter Five

“Tigger, where the fuck are you?” Gemma’s voice was full of humor. “Chucky is spending too much time taking care of your mutt.”

“Weaverville.” He sighed. “Gem, I don’t know what to do. She’s…”

“Please tell me you didn’t fuck some tramp and then kill her.”

“No Gemma. Do you remember something happening with Mac McKenna and his wife about twenty-three years ago? Something with a kid? Would have been about a year before I joined the club.” He figured it was the best place to start. He knew Harlow was telling the truth, but he needed to hear it from someone else.

“Right before Mary died? Yeah, somethin’ about a girl they wanted to take in, her dad was an outside hitter that the club there had brought in. He took her away in the middle of the night. I remember JT being really upset about it, put word out to all charters to be on the lookout. Never turned anything up. Why, baby?”

“Met the girl last night. She’s Jax’s age now. She’s cool, we’ve been hangin’ out since then, and I just found out about her SOA connection, and then…” He went on explaining the rest of what had just happened. When he was done, Gemma sighed.

“First of all, give her space. To say this girl has issues is the understatement of the decade. Don’t push her, let her come to you. Do not fuck her Tig. I don’t care if she throws herself naked at ya.” He could hear the spark of a lighter and Gem take a drag from something.

“Let me do some digging baby. I’ve got some ideas, but I’ve gotta talk to Jackson. I’ll call you back as soon as I can sweetheart.”

Hanging up he heaved a sigh of relief. He had done the right thing, calling Gemma. She would help, she’d know how to fix this. He laid back on the bed. The only thing to do now was wait.

Chapter Six

Gemma hung up the phone and put her head in her hands. Leave it to Tig to find himself in a situation like this. But she had to admit, she hadn’t heard him sound so protective of anyone outside of the Sons family, well, ever. So this girl had to be pretty impressive, and from what Tig had told her, she was.

Going into the clubhouse, she found Juice in his ‘office’. “Juice, sweetie, need you to check someone out for me, everything you can find. The name is Harlow Perry or Sasha Harlow Perry.”

Juice’s eyebrows went up. “The writer? I just read something online about her novel being optioned for like a million dollars.” He grinned, “Should be a good movie if it’s done right.”

Gemma thought for a second, Tig had said something about her being a writer. “You’ve read this book? What’s it about?”

Juice looked like he had been caught doing something wrong. “Well…yeah. Read it my senior year. Had to for class.” He started typing on his laptop while talking with her. “It’s about a girl raised by her criminal father, their nomadic life and the shit that happens.” He kept typing.

Gemma smiled, “An autobiography?”

“No, it’s fiction, or at least that’s what it was released as.” He turned to look at her, “There is a whole website dedicated to the book. Some people think it’s real, some think its fiction, and since she really has never done interviews, no one has ever gotten a straight answer.” He shrugged. “Real or fiction, it’s well written. It’s won awards. So have her two short story collections.”

Gemma nodded, parsing through what she had just been told and what Tig had told her over the phone, “Well Juicy, I think I can safely say the book is not fiction.”

“What book isn’t fiction?” The voice of her son behind her, causing her to jump.

Juice answered, “Harlow Perry’s Born into the Fringes.”

Jax nodded, “Seemed pretty authentic to me, Tara is on the fence.” Chuckling at their surprised looks. “I can read ya know. It’s one of Tara’s favorites, she asked me to read it, thought I would like it. I did. It was smart, funny, with just enough sex and violence to not be boring.” While certainly not the strangest conversation he’d had in this clubhouse, it ranked up there. “And I read it when I was inside. Kinda had the time. Why are we even talking about this?”

Gemma explained the phone call from Tig. As she told them what Tig had told her, she watched as their eyes widened.

Juice broke the silence. “And Tig wants to help her? Other than Fawn, Tig doesn’t give a fuck about anyone outside the club.”

Gemma snorted. “First of all, it’s Tig. Who fucking knows what motivates him half the time. I don’t think even he could tell you. But I do think the second he saw that Polaroid, she was club.” Looking at her son, “I think we need to call Mac.”

Her son nodded. “Yeah. Call Tig back, tell him to get her here. We’ll go from there.” Gemma nodded, pulling out her cel phone.

Juice looked at them both, “You want me to keep checking?”

“Yeah. Should probably know what the fuck Tig has gotten us into.” Jax said over his shoulder, heading to chapel to make his own call. He wasn’t looking forward to it. He could remember the situation from when he was twelve. How upset his dad had been, the way Mac’s voice was loud enough over the phone for him to hear the man’s pain.

Shutting the door, he sat at the head of the table and took a minute.

Chapter Seven

He had worked his way through half the bottle of Jack to go with the half pack of smokes, waiting. Waiting for Gemma to call back, waiting for Harlow to return. His cel rang, “Gemma.”

“Hey baby, she back yet?” Gemma sounded, well like Gemma, all over it.

“No, but she’s on foot and all her stuff is here, so she’ll be back. I’m just worried she’ll do something fuckin’ stupid, like get in a fight. She was wound pretty tight.” He ran his hand over his face. “Wouldn’t take much to set her off.”

“I can imagine.” Gemma chuckled, “Juice says she’s like some kind of cult writer.” Another chuckle, “Guess he’s actually read her books, says they’ve won awards and shit and one of them is gonna be a movie.”

“That’s not actually helpful Gemma. What do I do when she gets back? Ignore it and go back to how shit was last night when we were just buddies havin’ fun? Or do I actually try to talk to her about this?” He lit another smoke. “Fuck Gem, I am not the guy you talk to about shit like this. That’s Jax and Chibs territory.”

“Don’t sell yourself short sweetheart. Let her set the tone and go from there. But Jackson wants you to get her to come here. He’s calling Mac, but you should probably keep that to yourself.” She paused for a second. “From what you’ve told me, that agent chick? She’s not really wrong. The girl does need a place to call home, just not the ‘normal’ one that bitch is thinking of.”

He grinned. Gemma’s mama bear voice was coming out. Hearing it lifted the weight from his shoulders, his club had his back. “Okay Gem, I’ll get her to come to Charming.” He heard Harlow’s phone go off, he looked, and it was the agent bitch again. “Hold on Gem, got an idea.”

He answered the phone. “Harlow’s phone, this is Tig.”

The shrill voice was like nails on a chalkboard. “Who are you and where is Harlow?”

Gritting his teeth against her voice. “She’s on a walk and I’m a friend.” Then the lie. “She said if you called back to tell you to send everything to her in care of Teller-Morrow Automotive in Charming, California.” He gave her the address. “She’ll be there in the next day or so.”

“Fine. Good” The nasal voice grating on his nerves even more. “Tell her the contract needs to be dealt with immediately. And Julian would like something back in the next six weeks. He says the publisher has scheduled the release four months from now, and he’ll call her as soon as his hangover is gone. Or she can call him if she needs anything.”

He was pissed. At no point had this cunt asked how Harlow was, if she was okay. As far as he could tell, one of the few people who were constant in her life, looked at her as a check. “Okay.” His temper took over. “Oh, and if I ever hear you talk to Harlow like you did earlier, ever again, I’ll rip your fuckin’ throat out.” He disconnected the call.

He picked his cel back up. “Did you hear that Gem?”

“Yeah darlin’, I’ll be looking for the package and tell the others.” She laughed. “Quick thinkin’ Tiggy.”

“I have my moments.” He looked up, Harlow had come back into the room. He could see the scrapes and blood on the knuckles of her left hand. “Gotta go, I’ll check in with ya later. Don’t worry, I’m being a good boy.” He chuckled, trying to be as casual as he could.

“She back?” Gemma, always quick on the uptake.

“Yeah.” He said. “Talk to you later.”

“Good luck baby. Love you.” Gemma hung up.

Chapter Eight

Jax lit a cigarette waiting for Mac to come to the phone. He had stared down Russians, Cartels, and the Irish, and this fucking phone call was one of the hardest things he had done, outside of all the shit with Wendy and Tara over the years. He could almost feel his father standing behind him. He nodded to his Mom as she slipped into the room, sitting down beside him.

“Jackson Teller. What can I do for ya?” The New York accent of Mac McKenna coming through the speaker of his cel. “How ya doin’ kid? How’s your Mom?”

Jax sighed. “Keepin’ our heads above water. You know how it is.”

Mac laughed. “That I do.” His voice became more serious. “Sorry to hear about your old lady. Think she’ll beat the charges?”

Another sigh. He didn’t want to think about Tara. He knew they were over regardless of the outcome of the charges. Now it was just a matter of making sure she didn’t get his boys. “Thanks. I’ve got no idea brother; lawyer seems to think we’ve got a good case. But that’s not why I called.” He reached over and took his mother’s hand, needing the comfort of that contact. “Although I got no fuckin’ idea where to even start.”

Mac’s voice became guarded. “Just spit it out son. Sounds serious.”

He looked at Gemma, who nodded. “Tig found Harlow Perry.”

Silence on the other end. “Mac? You there?”

The voice that answered wasn’t Mac, but that of his VP, Wyatt. “What the fuck Jax!? Mac looks like he’s seen a ghost.”

A tired chuckle caught in his throat. “Tig found Harlow Perry in Weaverville. He’s gonna get her here. Thought Mac should know.”

“Shit. Really? Hold on brotha.” Both he and Gemma could hear Wyatt yelling for someone to get Mac a whiskey. “We knew she was alive because of the books, but never have been able to catch up to her. Her dad, even though he’s a fuck, taught her well. Hold on, here’s Mac.”

Mac’s voice was strained. “She okay? Me and Wyatt can be there in three, four days. Tell me what she needs, I’ll fuckin’ do it.”

He was grateful when his Mom took over. “Mac, just get here. We’ll go from there. She’s safe. She’s got Tig with her. In his head, she’s a friend. He was adamant he wasn’t fucking her.” She laughed. “He called her a buddy.”

Mac grunted. “Yeah. Good. We’ll get on the road in the next hour or so. Keep me up to date and make sure she doesn’t get away.” The President of SAMYORK, one of the toughest men he had ever met, had a sob in his voice. “Tell Trager to keep her safe.”

Gemma smirked, the plan in her head going smoothly, for the moment. “Will do Mac. See ya in a few days sweetheart.”

Mac hung up. Jax looked at his Mom. “Think this ends well?”

Gemma patted his hand. “Don’t know baby, but it’s all we can do.” She smiled at him sadly. “I think it’s what your father would have done.” She shook her head, like she was trying to shake the ghosts from it. “I’ll fill Tig in when he calls to check in. She came back while he was on the phone with me.”

“Yeah. Okay. Suppose I should fill the guys in, let ‘em know the situation, that we’ll have some houseguests.” He ran his hand over his face.

“Let Juice finish looking into her, so we have somethin’ to tell ‘em other than what Tig has told me.” She got up, kissed him on the cheek, and left the room.

Chapter Nine

Wyatt looked at Mac, who was staring at an old Polaroid in his hand. He didn’t even need to look at the picture to know what it was. It was the same picture his brother looked at any time Mac was hammered and in a maudlin mood.

He sat there quietly, sipping his beer, waiting for his president, and more importantly, a man he looked to as a father, to say something.

He watched as Mac ran a finger over the picture, whispering. “Finally found her Mar.” Mac looked at him, “Should get Whitey and Shorty. Let ‘em know what’s goin’ on. Then we can get movin’, get on the road. Tell ‘em we’re taking one of the prospects. Don’t give a fuck who, they’re all good kids.”

He nodded, getting up to do what he had been told. As he passed by the man who brought him in as a prospect twenty-five years ago when he was a punk nineteen-year-old, and Mac was the SAA, he stopped. Putting a hand on the older man’s shoulder, he looked down, “You okay Mac?” He looked down at the Polaroid. It was Mar and Harlow, dancin’, smiles on their faces. While Harlow had only been with them for ten days, she had made a deep impression during that time. 

“Yeah.” Mac chuckled darkly. “Or at least I will be once we get on the road to Charming.”

He nodded. “Well, I’ll let the guys know. Think we’ll bring PB, give the Charming croweaters a treat.” Trying to bring a little levity to the situation.

He got the reaction he wanted. Mac laughed. “Those girls will eat that boy alive.” Still laughing. “Should be fun to watch. We don’t call him Pretty Boy for nothin’.”

He chuckled. “No we don’t. Will you be ready in about an hour?”

“Yeah.” Mac looked up from the Polaroid. “And Wyatt?”

He looked back at the older man, the tall, still lean frame, with long legs stretched out. His now salt and pepper hair still longish, hiding an angular face with dark eyes. “Yeah?”

“Thanks brotha.” Mac’s voice soft.

“Not necessary.” And he went to fill the others in.

Chapter Ten

Harlow sat down on the edge of the bed, about a foot of space between them. He took Gemma’s advice and waited for her to say somethin’. He handed her the joint he just lit.

Harlow took a hit and held it, handing the joint back. “Thanks.” Sighing, she stared straight ahead. “Sorry about that. Guess she hit a nerve. Or three.”

Reaching over he patted her knee. “No worries doll.” He gently picked up the scraped hand. “Should get this cleaned up.”

Harlow flexed the hand, a small shadow of pain crossing her face. “Probably not the world’s worst idea.”

He went into the bathroom and got a washcloth, soaking it in hot water. After wringing it out, he brought it out, wiped the blood off, finding it wasn’t as bad as it looked, nothing broken. “What’d ya hit, doll?”

Harlow grinned. “A wall pissed me off. Reminded me of Lillian. Thick.”

He couldn’t help it, he laughed. “That would do it. Gotta be honest doll, I really don’t like her.”

Harlow gave a sharp laugh. “Me either. But she’s very good at her job, or at least the parts I let her do. Drives her nuts that I won’t do press, book tours, and all that kind of shit. But she makes me money where she can.” She sighed, pushing her chin length hair out of her face. “I should probably call her back. Tell her I’ll hang out here until she can get that stuff to me.”

This was where it was gonna get tricky. He had talked to that cunt on a whim, not really thinkin’ through the consequences. One of which may be Harlow trying to kick his ass. “Doll…”

Harlow looked at him, knowing look on her face. “She called back. What did you say to her?” There was no anger in her tone, just curiosity.

He shrugged. “Told her to send everything to the clubhouse in Charming.” Then grinned. “And I may have said somethin’ about if she mentions anything like she did earlier, I’d rip her throat out.” He braced himself for the explosion.

None came. When he looked at Harlow, she had a small smirk on her face. “Man…I would have loved to see the look on her face when you said that.” Then everything he said sunk in. “You told her to send everything where?”

“Charming, doll.” He gave her a firm look. “Look, Harlow, I don’t like the way that cunt talked to you, or all the things she said to you. But, she’s not totally fuckin’ wrong. I think you have been alone too long.” He got up and started to pace, he wasn’t comfortable doin’ this kind of shit. “But she was sayin’ shit like normal. But ya ain’t normal, never been anywhere near it.” Running a hand through his hair. “And neither are we. You’ll fit right in.” There. How was that for a sale’s pitch? He just hoped it worked.

He watched as she thought about what he said. Her face gave nothin’ away, but he could see her fingers tapping out a rhythm. He had noticed that about her, whenever she was thinking, her fingers would move to what he assumed was whatever song was in her head.

Sighing, Harlow gave him a tired smile. “Okay. But I’m not saying I’m gonna stick around. I’ll hang for a few days, go from there.” She looked at the bedside clock. “It’s only three? Fuck, it’s been a day already.”

He sat back down beside her, tucking a strand of that obnoxious cherry red hair that had fallen into her eyes, back behind her ear. “Too bad I don’t have an extra helmet; we could go for a ride. That usually helps a shitty day.”

Harlow jumped up, grabbed his hand, and started dragging him outside to her Jeep. “C’mon, help me get these totes out. There should be one marked ‘shit I will probably never use but want’.”

He looked at her, confused. “And we’re looking for this, why?”

Harlow looked at him like he was retarded. “I have a helmet. Why? A fan gave it to me, and I’ve just always kept it. Hope it fits.”

He nodded and started helping pull out totes. It was the third one he pulled out. He opened it, and there it was on top. It was similar to his, only with a small decal that read ‘Satan’s School for Girls’. Laughing, he put it on her head as she was digging in a tote marked ‘leather’, pulling out a boots and jacket.

After getting the totes put back into the Jeep. Harlow put on her boots and jacket, and they rode.

Chapter Eleven

When Juice came to him saying he had found the pertinent information, he called his mom and told Juice to bring the others to chapel.

Chibs came in first, sitting in his VP spot, where he had been elevated since Bobby’s resignation over the Clay shit. Although the excuse he gave the guys was he was too old and too tired for VP shit. So he took back his position of club secretary-treasurer, sitting between Chibs and Juice.

Juice came in, laptop under his arm, followed by Happy, Phil, and Rat. All the guys looked shocked to see Gemma come in, taking Tig’s SAA spot. They all gave him a questioning look. 

“I asked Gemma to sit in on this since Tig called her with it.” They all nodded, still confused. Except Juice.

He looked at Bobby. “You’ll be the only one, other than Mom to remember this.” Bobby frowned. Jax knew the older man was thinking of old bad shit that could resurface. 

“Relax Bobby, this isn’t bad, just old.” The other man nodded, looking relieved. Jax continued. “Do you remember the situation with Mac and Mary McKenna and a girl?”

Bobby nodded. “Yeah” His voice sounded heavy. “That shit tore Mac up for years.” Then Bobby looked at Gemma, “JT and Clay too.” She nodded.

Chibs looked around at the three of them. “Would ye care to explain to those of us who have no fuckin’ idea what ye three are talking about?”

Gemma and Bobby told the others what transpired twenty-three years ago. With the exception of him and Juice, who had already heard it, the others were transfixed.

After the two of them finished talking, oddly enough it was Happy who spoke first. “So that’s who’s in the picture Mac that pulls out when he’s wasted and depressed. Asked Wyatt about it one time, he just shook his head and walked away.”

Jax nodded. “Well, last night, Tig, on his ‘vacation’, runs across her in Weaverville. Calls Gemma today.” He nods to his mom, who takes over, tellin’ them everything Tig had told her.

He watched their reactions. Happy, stone faced as always. Phil and Rat looked disturbed. Bobby looked curious. Juice, who had heard it before, was looking at his laptop. He looked over at Chibs, the man was looking down at his hands, a sign the Scot was parsing through information.

“I called Mac. He, Wyatt, and a prospect are on their way. Should be here in a few days.” He lit a cigarette. “Gemma had Juice dig into her, see what popped.” He nodded to Juice. “What did ya find?”

He noticed Juice’s dark eye’s grow darker. “Well, she wasn’t lying. There are zero records for her before the age of eighteen. No birth, no doctors, no schools, not a fucking thing. If she saw a doctor before the age of eighteen it was under a different name, or a backroom doctor.”

Juice glanced back to the screen briefly. “According the FBI file I hacked, they let her use the fake birth certificate to get a real Social Security number, because they have no fuckin’ clue to who she really is. Seems like her father is a fuckin’ ghost. The only thing they seem even semi-sure of is that he’s not American.” Looking back at the computer again. “They haven’t been able to match his prints to anything other than other crime scenes. They haven’t popped in any foreign data bases either. Same thing with DNA.”

Juice’s eyes became even more haunted. “This dude makes Tig and Happy seem like slackers.” He felt bad for Juice, sometimes the other man’s skin was pretty thin.

Juice went on. “According to the files, the Behavioral Analysis Unit was brought in to test and interrogate her. Her IQ is closer to 200 than 100. Also ADHD, with some sociopathic tendencies. When they interrogated her, she told them her dad would never come back, once he was done, he was done.” He could see Juice shudder a little. “After that they followed her for two years making sure.” Juice chuckled nervously. “They noted in the file that she was aware of them at all times. She chose to ignore them most the time and do what she was gonna do anyway. But that would explain why she never went back to Mac. Probably wanted to keep the Fed’s away from his doorstep.”

They all nodded, Chibs giving a tight smile. “She is a smart lass.”

Juice nodded. “Oh yeah. One of the BAU guys who tested her made the note that even without any formal education, she was probably better educated by the age of eighteen than people with advanced degrees. She gave her dad credit.” 

He watched as Juice looked to his laptop again. “When they tried leveraging his abandonment of her, they almost had to have her restrained. Guess when she calmed down, she told them that whatever happened was between the two of them and it wasn’t enough for her to turn on him, even if she knew anything. That he had been very good about filling her head with exactly what he would want them to know to be able to chase their own tails.”

Jax knew the shock on everyone else’s faces mirrored his own. Pretty ballsy to tell the Feds to basically fuck off. “What else did ya find?”

Juice hit some keys on his laptop. “She has an Oregon driver’s license, but the address is a residential hotel. It’s the closest I’ve found to a permanent address. Other than her federal tax return, she’s filed state returns in, well, if it has casinos, there’s a chance she’s filed there. Plays poker.” Juice looked over again. “Her last federal return listed a total income a little over seven hundred thousand dollars.” Eyebrows went up around the table. Juice smiled. “She currently has about twelve grand in a checking account, and close to a million and a half spread through half a dozen other accounts.”

Gemma looked at Juice. “Anything bad we need to know?”

Juice shook his head. “Other than her ITunes addiction? Not really. Couple of drunk and disorderly arrests in her twenties. One in Texas, the other in San Diego. She keeps a relatively low profile. Never really done publicity for any of her books. Most references online are from people who are mentioning her books, or fans that have met her.” For the first time Juice flashed a genuine smile. “Although she does rile ‘em up every once in a while. She’ll post on the website dedicated to her and her books, especially the first one. And considering that she always posts in the middle of the night, my guess would be this is her version of drunk dialing.”

Chibs laughed, turning to Juice. “Ye sayin’ she takes the piss out of ‘em?” The Scot chuckled again. “Brassy.”

He watched Juice shrug. “Sometimes. Like I said, think drunk dialing. You never know what you’re gonna get. Sometimes it’s shallow, drunken ramblings and sometimes there’s a point. But it’s always entertaining.”

Chibs nodded. “What’s she look like?” Looking at Juice.

Juice spun the laptop around. They were all looking at a picture of a woman with longer, darker hair that had a distinctly violet tinge. She looked far younger than the almost thirty-four years she was. She was striking with large eyes filled with amusement. “This is her driver’s license picture from two years ago.” Juice put up the rest of the license. Born in August of ’79, making her four months younger than him. He also saw that she was 5’9” and 115 pounds. He was starting to feel the effect of Tara being in jail.

Juice put up a different picture. “This was posted by a fan about three months ago.” The hair was now chin length with hot pink streaks added to the dark violet. The amusement was still in her eyes. One of the things that he had liked about the book of hers that he had read was the humor. It had seemed she could find it almost anywhere.

Gemma snickered. “Subtle.” He turned, slowly, seeing his mother roll her eyes good naturedly when he finally managed to pry his eyes away. Jax also noticed that his VP had failed to do so yet. 

He looked back over to Juice. “Anything else?”

Juice shook his head. “Nothin’ that’s not total gossip and speculation, and there is a fucking ton of that. Never been married. No real evidence of any long term relationships. From what I can tell, she’s a loner. Lots of acquaintances, very few close friends, if any.” Juice looked down at his hands. “I used to think her first book was…” Juice’s eyes caught his, giving him a knowing look. “Fiction. But now? This chick has had a fucked up life, at least ‘til eighteen. And I’d say eighteen to twenty when she had the Feds on her wasn’t a picnic either.”

Chibs looked back and forth between he and Juice, then pinned Juice down with his dark eyes, “How fucked up Juicy boy?”

Juice wouldn’t look Chibs in the eye, preferring to look at his hands. “First of all, her dad spent sixteen years drilling it into her head to never get close to anyone. Other than the time spent with SAMYORK, never lived anywhere other than hotel rooms…” Juice looked over at him, eyes pleading for him to take over. He nodded.

Tapping Chibs on the arm, he took a breath as the other man turned. “Brother, according to the book, she witnessed her first murder at the age of four.” The dark eyes narrowed, he swallowed. “And dropped two bodies between her sixteenth and seventeenth birthdays. Both self-defense.”

The room became quiet as he watched the others imagine what constituted self- defense.

Gemma broke the silence. “Good for her.” Then with a mild chuckle. “No wonder Tig doesn’t freak her out.”

The tension that had settled over the room had been broken. He took back over. “Tig is bringing her here tomorrow. For how long? Don’t know. But I want to meet them in Lodi, give ‘em an escort here. Chibs, Happy, Juice, you’ll be with me. We’ll set up a time when Tig checks in.”

He dismissed them. Gemma and Bobby left together, talking about food for the usual Friday after chapel blowout. Other than the Clay shit, he thinks this may have been a consideration. The VP spot had taken him away from his cooking and baking.

Happy, Juice, Phil, and Rat left to go back to whatever they had been pulled away from.

Chibs stayed in his seat, smoking a cigarette. “Ye’ve read this book?”

“Yeah, in Stockton.” Lighting a smoke of his own. “Wild and fucked up barely covers it.” 

Chibs took that in. “What’s the deal with her and Tiggy?”

He shrugged his shoulders at his VP. “Mom says he’s adamant that he’s not fucking her, no intentions of fucking her. Mom thinks she’s been twisted into his Dawn and Fawn guilt.”

Chibs nodded solemnly. “Aye, I can see that.” He got up, “think I need a drink,” walking out to the bar.

He sat there for a moment, thinking of how the past comes back in the ways we least expect. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he got up, following Chibs out to the bar. A drink sounded good. And needed.

Chapter Twelve

By the time they got back from the ride it was almost eight o’clock. He was right, it had turned the day around. She seemed less likely to snap.

As he laid on the bed waiting for her to be done in the shower, she had disregarded his suggestion that they conserve water by showering together, he actually examined what he was feeling about her. He knew that Gemma would assume since he wasn’t fucking her, he was looking at her as a surrogate for his daughters. That wasn’t it.

The more time he spent with her, he could easily see himself taking her to bed. Except he actually liked her. Enough so that with all the shit she had been through, he wanted her to have someone love her, be in love with her, and he’d lost that ability years ago. He’d rather have the bantering, flirty friendship they were developing than risk fucking anything else up.

She came out of the bathroom, towels wrapped around both her hair and body. He gave her a mild leer. “Any ink under that towel?”

“Nope. Virgin skin.” She gave him a cheeky grin. “And wouldn’t you like me to prove it?”

Trying to sneak a peek down the towel as he walked past her to take his own shower. “Yeah, doll. I would.” He gave her a lecherous smile. “I’ll show ya mine, if ya show me yours.” Closing the bathroom door, he could hear her laughing.

Chapter Thirteen

Still laughing as she heard the bathroom door click closed, she dressed, pondering the man in the bathroom. She knew that most people would assume since she wasn’t sleeping with him, Tig was filling some daddy sized hole in her life. Tig did not remind of her father, other than the violence that both men were capable of. Plus, her father was far saner than Tig Trager. Even if they were both psychopaths.

Sure, there was a part of her that was tempted to fuck him, but that was the same part of her brain that thought dropping acid first thing in the morning was a good idea, or that she really did need that tenth shot of tequila. So, not the most reliable part of her brain, and in this instance, she was ignoring it.

For the moment she was just trying to enjoy the fact that she didn’t have to hide any part of her life. It was oddly liberating.

She was finishing putting on makeup when Tig’s cel phone jolted her out of her thoughts. Figuring that turnabout was fair play, she picked it up. “Tig’s phone, this is…”

“Harlow.” A deep, Scottish accented voice finished. “Heard a bit about ye, lass. Tig about?”

“In the shower.” Smiling. “Hope whatever you’ve heard is…” She started to laugh. “Well fuck. I was gonna say flattering, but my guess it’s somewhere in the ballpark of the truth, which unfortunately is pretty fucked up.”

She enjoyed the booming laugh that came through the cel. “Ye do have some brass, don’t ye lass? No worries luv, I’m a big boy, think I can handle it. Got my own fucked up story.”

She grinned, whoever he was, she liked him already. “I look forward to hearing it. I’m assuming you need to actually talk to Tig?”

He chuckled and she felt a slight shiver travel her spine. “Aye lass, that I do. But would rather talk to ye instead. Much nicer voice.”

“I’ll be there tomorrow Scotsman, and I’ll talk to you all you want.” She laughed. “Hold on, the shower stopped.” She went and pounded on the door. “Hey! There’s some Scot with a very sexy voice on your cel, saying he needs to talk to you.”

Tig threw the door open, and in a mocking fashion she used her arm to cover her eyes. “Oh dear God! I need to scrub my eyeballs! Possibly in bleach!”

He grinned at her. “What!? Too much for ya doll?” Reaching for the phone.

Laughing she handed it to him. “Tig, you naked, insane man. I wouldn’t fuck you with someone else’s pussy.” Laughing harder. “Now your friend on the other hand, if he looks as good as he sounds…”

His smile became more manic. “Is this about the goat story? It was only the one time.”

By the time he closed the door, she was doubled over in laughter.

Chapter Fourteen

As he put the phone to his ear, he could hear Chibs laughing hysterically. “Shut up Chibs.”

“She’s a piece of work, isn’t she brother?” Still trying to get his laughter under control. “Ye hadn’t checked back in, so Jackie wanted me to check in with ye instead. Wants to meet at the truck stop west of Lodi, ye know the one.”

He nodded, he wasn’t surprised. “Yeah. Who’s comin’?”

“Me, Jackie, Hap, and Juice. Why?” The laughter still coloring his voice.

He sighed. “Have Juice bring the tow truck. Drove her Jeep today. She may be smart in a lot of ways, cars ain’t one of ‘em. Thing needs a tune up. The trannie looked at, and the front axle is going bad.” He sat down on the edge of the tub. “The thing would make it to Charming, I think. Haven’t seen her drive. But she likes to ride, so may as well tow the thing the rest of the way.”

“Sounds good. I’ll make sure to grab an extra helmet.” The Scot paused. “Ye fallin’ for her Tiggy?”

He closed his eyes. “Nah, brother.” Letting out a deep breath. “As weird as this fuckin’ sounds comin’ from me, she’s a friend. She’s fun. Takes whatever ya give her and throws it right back. You heard.” He laughed. “Don’t worry about the helmet. She’s got one. Took her for a ride earlier.”

He could have sworn Chibs sounded jealous. “Ye did? How’d she do?”

“Like she was born to ride behind someone. Whatever Mac taught her, she remembered.” He grinned, he still couldn’t believe the last time she had been on a bike before today was with Mac.

“Good. I’ll tell Jackie about the Jeep. What time do ye wanna meet?” The Scot getting back to business. 

“Don’t wanna push that Jeep.” Or get up too early, he thought. “How about one?” 

“Sounds good Tiggy. I’ll let Jackie boy know. Now let me talk to the lass again. Would rather end the call with her voice in my ear.” More laughter from the Scot.

“I’ll see if she wants to talk to ya.” Chuckling, he walked out to her smoking a joint on the bed, glued to her laptop. Shit, she was as bad as Juice. “Hey, doll.”

She looked up, closing the laptop. “Oh, thank God, you’re wearing a towel. Don’t think the eyes could take a repeat of naked Tig.” Her eyes filled with vast amusement.

“Yeah, yeah. Remember, you’ve seen mine, now you owe me.” He chuckled when she flipped him off. “Chibs wants to talk to you again, you wanna talk to him? I won’t feel bad if ya don’t.” Grinning at her.

“Fuck yes I do! Gimme!” He rolled his eyes, it was like being in the middle of two fucking teenagers. He handed her the phone, grabbed some clothes and went back into the bathroom.

Chapter Fifteen

Chibs was laughing again listening to Tigger and the lass banter. And had to admit really enjoyed the enthusiasm she showed when Tiggy asked her if she wanted to talk to him again.

She was laughing as she took the phone. “Chibs!?” He liked her laugh. “Really? Chibs?”

He chuckled, taking a drink of his beer. “What? And Harlow’s any better?”

“Fuck no! But it is better than my actual first name. Whoever fuckin’ named me needs, or needed their head examined.” She laughed.

“Tell me yers, and I’ll tell ye mine.” Letting his accent become more pronounced. He wasn’t above using it to get what he wanted, and after seeing the pictures, he wanted her. Even more so now that he had talked to her.

She gave him a mocking groan, which he found really hot. “Fine. But you have to go first.”

“If ye insist, luv. The name my mother gave me is Filip.” He chuckled. “Now I believe it’s yer turn missy.”

She groaned again. He almost groaned with her, she was drivin’ him nuts, in the best possible way. “Fine, but if you laugh hysterically, well, I won’t be surprised.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die, luv. I won’t laugh.” He tried to sound solemn through his smile.

“Sasha. Proof positive that my mother, who supposedly named me, was either a stripper or a hooker.” She snickered.

“You’re right, Harlow is better. Ye don’t sound like a Sasha.” He didn’t tell her she didn’t look like one either.

He could hear Tig in the background. “Are you two done yet?”

He heard her laugh. “Hold on Filip.” He liked the way she said his name. He listened as she dealt with Tig.

“Of course not! You can’t rush true lust Tig. Here, smoke this, you won’t care so much. I’ll make you a deal. Give me five minutes and I’ll buy dinner and drinks.”

“Fine, doll. Five minutes…starting now!” He noticed that Tig didn’t sound upset, just amused at her antics.

He chuckled when she came back on the line. “Okay Filip, looks like we’re on a timer. And if you couldn’t tell, I like Filip better.”

“I did, lass. Gotta admit, I like the way ye say it.” He lowered his voice, even though he was alone in his dorm room. “Can’t wait to hear it face to face. Know Tig hasn’t had a chance to tell ye, but he says yer Jeep needs help, so we’re gonna tow it from Lodi to Charming.”

“Yeah?” She had lowered her voice also. He swallowed, hard, his throat suddenly thick. “You gonna let me ride with you? Think I’d rather do that than ride shotgun in a tow truck.” Her voice became more teasing. “Then again, there’s always Tig. I’m sure he’d be happy to give me a lift.”

Even though he knew she was teasing, he felt a sudden surge of jealousy. But he reined that in, keepin’ his tone light. “Well, luv, call me Filip when ye see me tomorrow, I’ll take ye wherever ye want.” He chuckled. “As long as it’s Charming and our clubhouse.”

He could hear Tig yelling. “Time’s up boys and girls. You can pick this back up tomorrow. I’m hungry and thirsty. Meet you next door.”

He laughed. “Better go feed the Tiggy. Be good, lass. See ye tomorrow.”

“Good night Filip, sweet dreams. I should probably go and make sure he doesn’t get into trouble. I look forward to putting a face to the voice.” She hung up.

He sighed as he shut his phone. Sweet dreams indeed. He had the feeling she would be a predominant figure in his tonight. Drinking down the rest of his beer, he got up, getting ready to make his way to the main clubhouse to inform Jackie of the slight change in plans.

Before he could take a step, his cel went off. Looking down he could see it was Tig’s number. He smiled as he answered. “Miss me already, lass?”

“Something like that.” She laughed and then her voice became almost serious. Almost. “I’m going to assume since I’m being invited to the bat cave, some due diligence was done?”

Juice wasn’t lying, lass had a lot on the ball. “Yeah, we did at that, lass.”

She chuckled. “I’m guessing you guys at least pulled my driver’s license picture?”

He laughed. “Mmm hmm. Lovely picture, too. Had Juicy-boy make me a copy.”

She laughed again. “What is it with you guys and nicknames? Wait, don’t answer. My hair doesn’t look like that anymore.”

“I know luv, got another pic. Shorter with pink streaks, Like that one too.” He let her hear the leer in his voice.

He could hear her smile. “Doesn’t look like that anymore. At least not the color.”

“And what color of the crayon box would it be now, luv?” He chuckled.

“Red.” And she started to laugh again.

He grinned. “I do love a ginger. Look forward to it.”

She snorted. “Not ginger red. Cherry red.” She chuckled. “It’s what happens when you get your hair colored while trippin’ on acid.”

He nearly fell over laughing. “Ye know, if I didn’t know better, I’d almost think ye were kin to Tiggy.”

“Nah. Well, who knows? He have a sister? I know my dad is my dad, we look too much alike. But no idea on my mom, never even seen a picture.” She paused. “Wow. I need a drink.”

He was still laughing. “Then ye better go get ye one.”

“Hey Filip?” He could still hear her smile.

“Yes, luv?” Still smiling himself.

“What color are your eyes?” She sounded genuinely curious.

He went along. “Brown, why?”

She chuckled. “No reason. Brown eyed handsome man. Also a great Buddy Holly song.” Then laughed again. “And also a great Chuck Berry song.”

He shook his head, chuckling. “How do ye know I’m handsome? For all ye know, I could be an ugly, fat fuck.”

“I don’t, but I have my fingers crossed.” She laughed. “See you tomorrow Filip.”

“G’night. I’ll be looking forward to it, Red.” He hung up and made his way down to the others, shaking his head the entire way. She certainly was a piece of work.

Chapter Sixteen

By the time she had made it over to the bar, she could see Tig was into his second beer. As she walked by the bar, she asked the bartender to bring her a shot of Glenlivet.

When she sat down, Tig grinned at her. “Ordered ya a steak, medium-rare with a baked potato.” His grin got wider. “Thought ya might need the energy boost after your phone sex session.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes good naturedly. “No phone sex. More like phone flirting.” She took a drink of her scotch.

He chuckled. “Whatever. At least it’s Chibs and not Jax.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Jax?”

She watched him sigh a little and become serious. “Doll, since you’re comin’ to Charming, I suppose I should give ya the lowdown on who’s who.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Probably a good idea.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been known to have them time to time.”

When their food got to the table, she listened as he told her about the guys, the hierarchy of the club, and other things he thought she should know. 

She knew that she must have had a look of total fascination on her face, because when he finished, he’d grinned. “Think that covers it.”

She had looked at him curiously, while he had explained a great deal, he had yet to cover the original comment that brought all of this up. “Why don’t you want me flirting with Jax? Is he an asshole?”

He shook his head at her grimacing. “No, doll. He’s a good man, a good President.” He shook his head again. “To say he has a complicated love life is putting it mildly. Ya don’t need his drama, babe.”

She could feel her contrarian streak emerging. “Are you telling me to stay away from him?”

He shrugged. “If I thought it would work, I would.” He grinned at her. “Just lettin’ ya know.”

She nodded. “That’s fair.” Then grinned at him. “So Chibs is drama free?”

He laughed at her. “Nah, but his drama is in another country. Less likely to show up and try and kick your ass.” He was still chuckling. “C’mon, let’s grab a couple of bottles and get out of redneck central.”

She nodded her agreement. The locals were looking at the two of them like they were about ready to grab the pitchforks. “Sounds good.” She threw her credit card to him. “You go deal with all of that, I’m gonna go to the restroom.”

He smiled at her. “Anything in particular ya wanna drink?”

“Whiskey.” She called over her shoulder as she was walking away. She was thinking about what he had told her. He had sounded concerned when he was telling her about SAMCRO’s President, like he was worried she wouldn’t be able to stay away.

She leaned against the wall when she got to the bathroom. Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. She’d only been back in the States for three weeks after almost six months in London thanks to a gorgeous singer-songwriter. He had been almost fifteen years younger than her, and it had burned out quickly, but it had been fun. She hadn’t gotten good and properly laid since being back. And she was starting to feel it. The irrational part of her brain was starting to make sense.

She left the restroom to find Tig outside of the bar waiting for her, smoking a cigarette. She grinned at the man. “So what are we drinking tonight? More Jack?”

He looked over at her with a slight smile. “Nah, talked the guy into sellin’ me the two bottles of Macallan he had.” Then he had grinned at her.

She chuckled. “Wow, you really are making me pay for that five minutes, huh?”

He put an arm around her shoulder as they walked back over to the motel. “Figured you might have a taste for scotch tonight.” Leering at her.

She shoved him away from her playfully. “No, Tiggy, I have a taste for a Scotsman, not scotch.” Then laughed. “Okay, so I do like scotch, but that’s beside the point, which I don’t really have.”

After they got back to the room, they spent most of the night drinking and smoking, just having a mellow night in, only killing one of the bottles of scotch. 

When they were ready to go to bed, she watched as Tig stripped down to his boxers, crawling into bed. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to tell the irrational part of her brain to shut the fuck up.

Chapter Seventeen

While not completely hammered when he crawled into bed, he was fairly drunk and pretty high. But not drunk or high enough that he failed to notice that she had watched him while he stripped down.

He watched her as she walked around the room, turning off her computer, the bathroom light. Pretending to be falling asleep, he watched her strip off her jeans, getting down to only a pair of red panties with black lace around the waist and legs. She pulled off her sweater, leaving a flimsy tank top with a v-neck and spaghetti straps. It was red also.

When she slid into the bed, he automatically reached out and pulled her to him, spooning her. He didn’t even think about it. As she settled into him, he put his face in her neck, inhaling her scent. He felt her shudder and let out a shaky breath. “Shh…” As he placed his lips on her neck.

When he did that, she leaned further back, emboldening him. He moved his lips down her neck to her shoulder blade, gently pulling down her tank top strap. When his lips and teeth hit her shoulder, he heard a sharp intake of air.

Rolling over, she threw a leg over his hip, using the leverage to pull him closer. She put her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a deep kiss that somehow managed to be gentle and rough all at the same time. It was his turn to shudder.

When they broke the kiss, with the little light streaming in from the parking lot, her eyes looked almost black. He pulled her back into another kiss as a hand made its way to her breasts. When his finger grazed her erect nipple, he felt her arch her back into his hand. 

She had moved her lips to his neck while trailing her nails down his back hard enough for him to feel them, but gentle enough to not leave a mark. The moment he could feel her teeth grazing his neck, he moved his hands down her back, grabbing her ass, pulling her tighter, needing the friction.

She continued using her mouth and hands as she slid down his body. He was starting to lose himself in a haze of pleasure when her hands reached his dick. The second her hands made their way into his boxers, Gemma’s edict from earlier entered his head. He groaned, pulling her back up.

As her lips returned to his neck, he groaned again. Gemma really had no idea what she was asking of him. “Doll…”

She breathed into his neck. “What? I’m busy.”

He pulled away from her. “Gotta stop, doll.”

She sighed and sat up, looking at him. “What!?”

Pulling her back down, he sighed into her hair, trying to think of what to say without telling her about Gemma’s order. No need to have her laugh her ass off at him. “Doll, there’s nothin’ more I’d love to do right now than fuck you six ways to Sunday.”

Her hands had found their way back down his abdomen. “That sounds like an excellent plan. I think we should execute it.”

He stilled her hands with his own. “Doll…”

She kissed him again. “I know, gotta stop.” Then moved her hands back into his boxers. “Don’t want to sleep with this pokin’ me in the back.” Her fingers starting to slide down his dick. He sighed, well, he wasn’t fucking her.

His hands pulled her close again, his lips finding hers. Her fingers closed around his dick starting to move up and down. He closed his eyes, hoping that he would be able to restrain himself from just throwing her down and slamming into the warm wetness he could feel as she straddled his thigh.

As she continued her ministrations, one of his hands finally found its way into her panties. When his finger slid over her clit, she grabbed his hand. “Nope.” Her voice husky. “Not unless your dick is gonna follow it.”

He wanted to say something. Wanted to argue, but she had him at the threshold. He could feel his balls start to retract up as his orgasm hit. He could feel his cum hit his belly, spilling over her hand. She kissed him hard as he finished riding the orgasm out. Then pulling away, she grinned at him as she licked her hand clean. 

He looked at her through hooded eyes. She had gotten up and he could hear water running in the bathroom. After hearing the water stop, she came back out holding a damp washcloth. She crawled back into the bed, using the washcloth to clean the cum off of his belly. After she was done, she threw the washcloth towards the bathroom and crawled back up to him, her voice amused in his ear. “Figured if I did the same thing with your belly that I did with my hand, you’d end up breaking the promise you made to whoever.” She chuckled, sounding pleased that she had figured out why he had stopped her earlier. “Let’s get some sleep Tig, goodnight.” She rolled away, curling her back into his side.

“G’night doll.” He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter Eighteen

Jax had been waiting in the main clubhouse for Chibs to finish talking to Tig about where he wanted to meet the two of them, but retreated to his room when Ima had come in looking for him. Now that Tara was in jail, Ima was doing her damnedest to weasel her way back into his bed. Granted, she was a porn star, so the sex was pretty decent, but he just couldn’t stand her, not even for the sex.

He had been looking at the pictures that Juice had printed out for him of Harlow Perry. Juice had let it slip that Chibs had asked for copies too. Not that that surprised him. He had seen the way the Scot reacted to the pictures when they were in the chapel.

He knew he really shouldn’t be looking at these pictures. He was married, didn’t matter that Tara was in jail, didn’t matter that it was over. But he can’t help but think of what may have happened had Harlow been allowed to stay with Mac and Mary all of those years ago. Would he have even fallen for Tara when they were teenagers? Maybe if Harlow had stayed with Mac and Mary, he would have fallen for her, instead of falling for someone who at their core, hated SAMCRO.

He knew he was at fault, making promises to get out when he didn’t wholeheartedly mean them. But Tara should have known that the second that Opie was killed, there was no going back for him, no getting out. She should have known that he would never let her or Wendy take the boys away from him.

He knew Gemma was possibly the reason Tara was sitting in jail at the moment. It was either Gemma or the former Marshall, Toric. But once again, Tara should have known better. Even though he’ll probably never completely trust his mother again, he knew she would do anything to keep her grandsons here. It was a trait he was willing to use if it got him what he wanted.

He sighed, lighting a cigarette, feeling two sides of himself at war. He wanted Harlow, but didn’t want to hurt Chibs, who obviously wanted her as well. He continued to smoke his cigarette and stare at the pictures, not even hearing the Scot come in.

“She is a looker, isn’t she?” The Scot chuckled as he sat on the foot of the bed.

He sighed, flipping the pictures over. “Yeah, she is. You get a hold of Tig?”

The Scot laughed. “Aye.” Laughing harder. “Tiggy’s got a handful up there.” Chibs caught his breath. “Actually heard the lass tell him she wouldn’t fuck him with someone else’s pussy.” 

He started to laugh. “Seriously?”

Chibs nodded, still chuckling. “That girl is a pistol.” Then his VP nodded to the pictures. “Wouldn’t get too attached to that look. Lass says her hair isn’t those colors anymore.”

He looked at the Scot in surprise. “You talked to her?”

Chibs nodded. “She answered Tiggy’s phone while he was in the shower. Then talked to her again after gettin’ done with him.” The Scot smiled at the memory. “Like I said, girl is a pistol.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What time are we meetin’ them?”

Chibs pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “One. Tiggy says the Jeep she drives needs work, so he wants Juice to bring the tow truck, tow it the rest of the way. Tig said she’s got a helmet so she can ride.” The Scot took a drag of his cigarette. “Told the lass she could ride the rest of the way with me.”

He could see the small challenge in his VP’s dark eyes. He knew that if he wanted, he could exert his rank and have her ride with him. He put his cigarette out, looking at his VP. “Well, then it looks like everything is handled.” He got up. “Think I’m gonna head home to the boys. See ya in the mornin’.”

Chibs nodded, gettin’ up to leave. “Yeah, I’ll let Juicy and Happy know what’s goin’ on.” Leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

He sat back in his chair, still thinking about the woman in the picture. He had come very close to telling Chibs that she would ride with him. But from what Chibs had said, she was expecting to ride with the Scot and would probably have somethin’ to say if he changed shit up.

He put things in their proper place and then went home to his boys.

Chapter Nineteen

Tig woke up to another post it on his face. Pulling it off he smiled. It was the same note from the morning before, only she had crossed out the word Jack and substituted Macallan.

He got up, going into the bathroom to take a piss. He thought about last night. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that the only reason anything had happened last night had less to do with her wanting him than wanting someone else, he was handy. He just hopes shit wouldn’t be weird between them.

He heard the motel room door open. He came out of the bathroom. “Morning, doll.”

She smiled as she handed him his coffee. “Morning.” Then grinned. “No doughnuts this morning. Grandma made apple-cinnamon muffins.” She swung the bag in front of his face. “They’re fuckin’ amazing. That woman may be a pain in the ass, but her baked goods are worth the disapproval.”

He grabbed the bag from her, opening it. Fuck, they did smell amazing. “Thanks, doll.” He looked over at the clock, seven in the morning. He looked over at her. “Do you sleep doll?” He started to eat, and damn, the muffins were good.

She laughed. “Yeah, kinda. I tend to catnap, catch a couple hours here, couple hours there. Plus, I’ve only been back in the states for three weeks. Just spent six months in London. So my body keeps thinkin’ it’s like three in the afternoon at seven in the morning.” She shrugged. “It’ll work itself out in the next week or so.”

He nodded. “Why were ya overseas for six months?”

She grinned. “Because I could be.” Then started to laugh. “Fuck, Tig. I’ve pretty much done whatever the fuck I’ve felt like since I was sixteen. I very rarely have any reasons for what I do other than I can.”

He laughed. “Works for me.” He looked back over to the clock. “We should leave no later than eight-thirty.” He looked back to her, looked like she had already taken a shower. “Did you curl your hair doll?” 

She laughed with a mock horrified look on her face. “No! Didn’t blow dry it, thought it might wake ya up. The curls are all mine.” She made a face. “And completely out of control. Something else I got from my nameless, faceless mother.” She took a drink of her coffee. “So what time do we need to be leaving?” She grinned, knowing that he had already told her, he had the feeling she was fucking with him.

He rolled his eyes and took a drink of his own coffee. “Told your future boyfriend…” He ducked as she threw a lighter at him. He grinned at her. “As I was saying, told your future boyfriend that we’d be there by one. So if we leave by eight, eight-thirty we’ll be fine.”

He got up to go grab a shower. As he did he saw her dump out a shitload of weed and started to break it up. He stopped. “Holy hell doll, what the fuck are ya doin’?”

She looked up at him once again like he was retarded. He had the feeling she looked at a lot of people like that, a lot. “Gonna roll the joints for the day.” She grinned. “What? You think they appear out of thin air? It’s part of my morning routine. Usually do it with my first couple cups of coffee.”

He shook his head as he went into the bathroom. Chibs was right, she was a piece of work. 

Chapter Twenty

They left Charming about eleven-thirty, which would get them to Lodi a little early, but Jackie had wanted to get there before Tig and the lass.

When they had reached the intersection where the truck stop was, stopping at the stop sign, he looked over the truck stop lot. Jackie looked at him curiously. “What are ya lookin’ for, they’re probably not here yet.”  
Then he saw her, or better put, saw the cherry red hair. He turned to Jackie. “Oh, they’re here.” He pointed. “See the cherry red?” He grinned. “That would be Harlow.”

He, Jackie, Happy, with Juice behind them in the tow truck, pulled into the lot. He could see that she had a laptop out on the hood of her Jeep, Tig standing next to her, watching what she was doing on the laptop.

When they pulled up by her Jeep and Tig’s bike, she didn’t turn around at all, engrossed in whatever she was doing on the computer, typing away furiously.

When they got off their bikes, Jackie went to say something to her, but Tig shook his head, telling them to give her a minute. 

She was muttering under her breath, and whatever she was muttering wasn’t good. He could nearly hear the growl in the muttering. She finished typing, and as she hit the last button, they could all clearly hear her. “See how ya like that you fucking cunt.”

Tig leaned over and said something low that he couldn’t make out. She turned around. He grinned. She looked better than in the pictures, by far. She was in a pair of low-riding skinny jeans that made her long legs look like they had been dipped in navy ink. Those were paired with a form fitting white long sleeved t-shirt with a t-shirt of what he would guess would be a rock band over it. She had finished things off with a pair of black leather motorcycle boots and a military cut black leather jacket.

She grinned sheepishly. “Ah, you’re here.” Then she turned back to the computer and did a few things, then closed it. All of them other than Tiggy stood there staring. It was safe to say not a single one of them had ever met anyone so nonplussed by them.

She turned back around, looking at all of them. Then her eyes met his and she grinned. “What can I say, Buddy Holly is never wrong.” He laughed as the others looked at her like she was a little crazy. Which, he supposed after what they had learned from Juice, she probably was.

He chuckled. “Don’t know about that lass, but I gotta ask, how’d ye know?”

She shrugged. “Spent some time in Glasgow. Have a friend there who writes detective novels that are based there”

He nodded. “I see.”

Jackie looked at the both of them, confused. “Well, I don’t.” Then put his hand out to the lass. “Jax Teller.”

She shook his hand. “Good to meet ya.” She looked back to him. He gave her a slight nod that it was okay. “Not the first Glasgow smile, I’ve seen. Saw a couple when Stuart was showing me the rougher parts of Glasgow.” He chuckled as the lass shook those cherry red curls. “At least what little I remember. Three of my top ten drunks are in that city.” She grinned at them. “That place may be the drunkest city in the world.”

At that point Jackie took over, introducing the lass to Happy and Juice. Jackie looked at Tig. “You two made good time.”

Tiggy looked at the lass with a grin. “Yeah, because that one drives like she’s qualifying for a NASCAR race.”

They all looked on in a little bit of surprise as she smacked Tig on his arm. “Wasn’t driving that fast, I was going under ninety.” She looked at the rest of them. “So what’s the plan now? Please tell me lunch is involved.”

Jackie smiled at the lass. “Well, can’t have ya starve, darlin’. The food here isn’t bad.”

She nodded at the SAMCRO president. “Cool. Let’s go.” She opened the driver’s side door to her Jeep, the smell of weed pouring out. Jackie looked at her, eyebrow arched. “Quite the air freshener.”

She shrugged and grabbed something out of her purse. As she put it in her pocket, he could see it was some sort of credit card. “Makes a long drive more bearable.” Then the lass turned to go into the truck stop.

The others followed. He pulled Tiggy back, chuckling. “We don’t even phase her do we Tiggy?”

Tig grinned. “Not in the least.” The grin faded. “Brother, that girl had seen things before she was ten that no adult should see. There are reasons she doesn’t sleep. She’s been up since four-thirty this morning.”

When they got inside, he could see that Jackie had taken a chair next to the lass. When he looked over at Tig, the man did not look thrilled with that. He leaned over. “Problem Tiggy?”

Tig looked at him. “Don’t want her pulled into Jax’s drama. Get your ass over there.”

He chuckled. “Think I can do that for ya Tiggy.” Walking towards the table, he slid into the empty chair next to her.

Tig followed, taking the other empty seat.

Chapter Twenty-One

Jax had thought lunch was going well, Harlow seemed be enjoying herself, although he was shocked that someone so skinny could put away the amount of food she did. Although he did notice that every time he went to talk to Harlow, Tig did not look thrilled. But he seemed to be okay with Chibs leaning into her, making little comments.

Everything was going smoothly up until Harlow had noticed Happy staring at her. She looked back at him with a small smile on her face. “Yes?”  
Happy kept looking at her for a minute. “We really don’t scare you at all, do we?” There was something in the tone of his voice that must have set her off.

She slid her chair back, standing. “No. You don’t.” He could see her jaw clench. “Only one person has ever scared me in my life, and none of you are him.” She pulled a credit card out of her pocket, slapping it into Tig’s chest as she walked past him. “Need to get some air, take care of the bill, please.” And she stalked off.

Tig closed his eyes for a second, while Chibs got up and followed Harlow. He sat there stunned for a moment. Happy looked at Tig, who was glaring at him. “What?”

Tig just shook his head and got up, grabbing the ticket and walked towards the cashier.

Happy looked at him. “You have any idea what that was about?”

He shook his head. “No idea, brother.” He looked at Juice. “You have any clue?”

Juice shook his head. “Not a one.”

He got up, figuring he would head outside and try to talk to Harlow, see what was wrong. As he went to walk by Tig, his reinstated SAA grabbed his arm. “Let her be. If she can be talked down, let Chibs do it. She’s talked to him a little already.”

He stood there for a moment. “Okay. You have any idea what that was about?”

Tig pulled him away from the cashier for a second. “The way Hap said it implied that there’s something wrong with her because she ain’t scared of us.” The man ran a hand over his goatee. “Like she’s a broken person, and that pisses her off.”

He nodded, it made sense. She’d spent her life on the outskirts due to necessity and to have someone even imply that it made her anything less than would sit wrong. “I don’t think Hap meant it that way.”

Tig shrugged. “Look, after what happened with that agent bitch yesterday, she’s a little on edge about shit like that right now.”

He looked at Tig almost astonished. Usually Tig wasn’t this aware of how others felt, or gave shit. “Okay.” He looked back at the table. “I’ll get the others.”

Tig shook his head. “Give her a few minutes. I’m gonna take a piss, then come back and finish my coffee, then we can go out.”

He nodded and walked back to the table.

Chapter Twenty-Two

When he got outside, he could see her pacing by her Jeep, smoking a cigarette. As he reached her, he could see her jaw was still clenched.

As she walked past him, he grabbed her arm. “Whoa, lass. What was that?” He wasn’t upset, just curious.

She looked at him with almost navy blue eyes. “You know when you and Tig say shit like that, I hear something akin to delight in your voices. But just now, all I heard is how it makes me a freak. And…” She was shakin’ her head, jaw still clenched.

He put his arms around her. “Lass, Hap didn’t mean it that way, I’m sure of it. Last thing ye are is a freak, or anything like that.” He chuckled. “Hap’s used to bein’ the scariest fucker in a room and havin’ everyone nervous around him. He has few social skills luv, ye gotta cut him a little slack.”

She nodded. “That’s why I didn’t go with my first instinct to throw something at his head.”

He let go of her, chuckling. “And what were ye plannin’ on throwin’ at him?”

She shrugged with a smile. “Your coffee mug. They’re the good heavy ones.”

That made him laugh outright. “You were aimin’ for some damage, eh?”

She chuckled. “Hey, you chuck something at someone like that, you better be aiming for some damage or you’re gonna get your ass kicked.” She walked over to her Jeep and reached inside, pulling out a small silver box. 

He could smell the weed as she opened it. Looking in he could see what looked like about two dozen joints. “Someone likes to be prepared.”

She grinned. “Yep. I find it comes in handy.” She lit the joint, inhaling deeply, then passed it to him.

He took a hit and looked at her. “I’m surprised the others haven’t come runnin’ out.”

She shook her head. “Tig will make ‘em stay put for a couple more minutes. After yesterday, he knows I need a little space.” Then she chuckled. “He’ll just be happy I didn’t punch anything.” Holding up a left hand with scraped and bruised knuckles. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it earlier.

He gently took it. “What did ye do luv?”

She grinned. “Punched a brick wall. Surprisingly enough, the wall won.”

He frowned a little. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

She shrugged. “Not really. I seem to have a pretty high pain tolerance. And it’s not the first wall to piss me off. At least I’m smart enough to use my left hand.”

He chuckled, taking another hit off of the joint she had passed back to him. “We should go get the others so we can get on the road. Gemma is probably pulling her hair out by now.”

She looked at him. “That’s Jax’s mom, right?”

He nodded. “Aye, and as she has been referred to ‘Queen of the bikers’.” He chuckled. “You two should get along famously.”

She smiled at him. “Tig said the same thing.”

He laughed. “Tiggy’s not as stupid as he acts. But I think ye already know that, don’t ye lass?”

She nodded. “He may be a whole lot of crazy, tightly wound, but no, not stupid.”

He shook his head. She was smart and observant, almost scarily so. “C’mon lass, let’s go get the others.” He threw an arm around her shoulder.

She nodded. “Sure, really hadn’t planned on spending my day at a truck stop in Lodi. If I had, I would have dressed down.”

He laughed as they started walking back towards the truck stop, meeting the others on their way out.

Chapter Twenty-Three

They got her Jeep hooked up to the tow truck, and he had chuckled a little at her admonishment to Juice when she put her laptops in the truck with him to take care of her babies. Juice had nodded solemnly; he was probably the only one of ‘em that understood her attachment to them.

He had to tamp down the slight surge of jealousy when Harlow got on the back of his VP’s bike, wrapping her arms around his waist.

As they rode to Charming, he looked over at the two of them. He could see that her hands had found their way inside Chibs’ cut, resting them in the pockets of his leather jacket. He wasn’t sure why he felt the way he did, but the feelings were there, and he wasn’t sure how to deal with them.

At one point, he had looked over seeing a smile of pure enjoyment on her face. In all of his years with Tara, he was pretty sure that she had never had such a look on her face while with SAMCRO.

When they reached the outskirts of Charming, he noticed that suddenly her head was on a swivel, trying to take everything in, mapping the town out.

He almost laughed when they pulled into the lot. Both Bobby and his Mom were waiting outside, both looking rather impatient. He knew that for the two of them, Harlow coming here was the closing of a chapter of the past. The fruition of the orders that JT had issued all of those years ago.

As they backed their bikes in, Juice pulled in with the tow truck, towing her Jeep. The second she got off Chibs bike, she ran over to the truck, opening the passenger door, grabbing her laptops.

His mother gave him a curious look as she walked over. “What’s that about?”

He shrugged. “She called ‘em her babies. My guess would be her life is in those things.”

His Mom nodded and waited for Harlow to make their way back over.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Gemma stood with her son, waiting for the girl to check on her laptops, Juice following assuring her they were fine, and that he was the club’s computer guy, he knew how to look after a laptop.

She almost laughed as Tig grabbed Juice’s arm, whispering furiously in the younger man’s ear. Juice reddened and then shut the fuck up. 

The girl had put the case holding the laptops over her shoulder and walked back over to Chibs, who leaned into her whispering something that made the girl laugh. She looked over at her son. “Problem with that?”

He looked at her, trying to hide his emotions from her. Silly boy, he was never able to do that well. “No, why should I? Remember, I am married.”

She snorted. “Yeah. To a woman that now fuckin’ hates ya, and has never loved this club. Maybe if shit had gone the way it should have twenty-three years ago, Tara would have never been in the fuckin’ picture.”

She nearly laughed at the look on his face, like she had read his mind. She leaned over. “No matter what’s happened Jackson, no matter how much you may not trust me or at this point even like me, I am your mother and can read ya like a fuckin’ book.”

She was about ready to go on when Jax nudged her with an elbow. Chibs and the girl were making their way over. She stepped forward, putting a hand out. “You must be Harlow, I’m Gemma. Good to meet ya.”

Harlow shook her hand with a smile. “Good to meet you.” The girl was looking around, taking everything in. She could see how the girl could be a writer.

Looking at the girl appraisingly. “Not what you expected?”

Harlow shook her head. “No, but I had none coming in, so that helps.” The girl smiled.

She nodded, seemed like a pretty smart plan. She tilted her head towards the clubhouse and the dorms. “Had Phil and Rat clean out a room for you.”

Harlow nodded. “Thanks.” 

Chibs walked over to Harlow and she could see the tension rise in her son’s shoulders. She mentally shook her head. If Jackson thought he was hiding anything from anyone he had another thing coming.

Chibs looked over at Jackson before looking back to Harlow. “Guys are gonna bring in yer totes. Anything we need to know?”

Harlow shook her head. “Anything breakable is marked really well.” Then the girl looked over at her Jeep, which the guys had started unloading. “Thanks.” 

Chibs smiled at her. “Happy to do it lass.” He looked over at her son. “Ye comin’ Jackie?”

Jax nodded. “Sure.” Her son walked over and grabbed one of what seemed to be a number of totes.

Now that it was just the two of them, she looked over at Harlow. “So, what’s the deal with that?” Indicating towards Chibs.

Harlow gave her a sideways look. “For once, I’ll actually answer your question rather than to tell you to fuck off and mind your own goddamned business.”

She arched an eyebrow at the girl. “I feel special. Now what’s the deal honey?”

The girl gave her a wry smile. “No idea. Known him less than three hours. Why don’t ya check back with me after I’ve known him at least eight.” Then the girl turned to her, humor gone. “And if you think you’re gonna get in the middle of my life, and I’ll be like the rest of ‘em around here and be just peachy with it, take a second thought. I appreciate your hospitality, but refuse to pay it back by letting you meddle in my life any more than you already have.” The girl smiled at her. “I know it was your suggestion to bring me here, but I don’t like it when people try to tell me how I need to be living my life. Are we clear?”

She stood there gaping at the younger woman. Then she laughed. “Goddamn sweetie, you do have a pair, don’t ya? Okay, I’ll try not to meddle.” Still chuckling. “Too much.”

The younger woman gave a slight chuckle. “I have the feeling it’s the best I’m gonna get out of you.” Then turned back to her Jeep. “Wow.”

She looked at her confused. Harlow had a ghost of a smile, like she was suddenly very unsure of her surroundings. Then she realized. With her Jeep empty, she was actually stuck here.

She put an arm gently around the girl. “It’s gonna be fine darlin’. That ancient thing will only be out of commission for a few days. I know it’s weird to see it empty, but Tig says it’s in rough shape.” She chuckled. “So even if ya ran, you wouldn’t get far.”

Harlow nodded absently, still staring at the empty Jeep. “Right.” The girl shook her head like she was trying to dislodge the image from her head. Then turned to her. “Oh, did that package come for me?”

She nodded. “Yeah, had Chucky stick it in the room you’re staying in.” She started walking Harlow towards the clubhouse. “Why don’t I show you where it is, let you get settled in.”

The girl nodded. “Yeah, okay.” Walking towards the clubhouse, the girl stopped for a minute, turning to her. “Did you ask about Chibs for your knowledge, or your son’s?”

That stopped her short. Juice had said that the Feds said the girl was smart, but she was pretty sure that they had no idea just how smart. And she had the feeling if she tried to bullshit her way out of the question the girl would know immediately. “Bit of both to be honest, even though Jackson has no idea. Why does it matter?”

The girl smiled. “I’d have zero respect or interest in anyone who has their Mom ask questions they want answers to.”

She smiled. “I can understand that.” She started pushing the girl towards the clubhouse again.

Chapter Twenty-Five

After getting all of the totes into the room that had been cleaned up for the lass, he could see she looked more than a little freaked out by seeing all of them out of her Jeep.

Both he and Tig had tried to get the others to leave her be for a bit, but they had both given up when Gemma started to shoot daggers at ‘em. He had wandered off for a bit, noticing that Tig had snagged the bottle of Macallan that was sticking out of one of her bags.

After watching Jackie come from the dorms, he decided he wasn’t going to wait until later. Jackie thought he was hidin’ the fact that he was wantin’ the lass also. He wasn’t. Hell, even Juicy noticed. Looking over at the clock he could see he had a nice three-hour window until church at seven. He grabbed a bottle of Jameson’s as his key in the door.

He walked back to the dorms, stopping at the door of her room. He knocked softly.

“Yeah?” She sounded leery.

“Just me, lass. Saw Tig snag yer bottle of Macallan. Thought I’d bring ye a replacement.”

“Come on in.” She sounded like she had perked up a little. He saw her grin as he came into the room.

He held up the bottle of Jameson’s. “Not quite the same, but I didn’t think ye’d complain.” He turned and locked the door behind him.

She grinned as she took the bottle from him. “No, this will do nicely.” She opened the bottle and took a healthy drink, then handed it to him. “Don’t you have like secret MC stuff to do?” 

He smiled as he tipped the bottle towards her before he took a drink. “Nope.”

She laughed. “So you’re just wandering around, bringing whiskey to those in need?”

He chuckled as he inched closer to her. “Yep. As long as they have cherry red curls.”

She peered at him, a smirk on her face. “Lucky me.” He noticed an impish look on her face a split second before she had turned and swung a leg over his lap, straddling him. “So anything else on your agenda for the afternoon?” 

He leaned back onto his elbows, enjoying the view of looking up at her. He chuckled. “Think there might be a hole in my schedule.”

With a cheeky grin on her face, she leaned back, just enough to put a small amount of pressure at exactly the right place. “Until when?” She leaned back a little further, exerting more pressure.

He reached out and grabbed her by her belt loops, pulling her down to him. “Careful lass, don’t start shit yer not gonna finish.”

She grinned again as she kissed him. As she pulled his lower lip between her teeth, her eyes lit up. “And I asked until when Filip.” Her kisses became more insistent.

Trying to talk around the kisses he didn’t want to end. “Seven.”

He could feel her nimble fingers working at the zipper of his leather jacket. “I think I can work with that.” As her lips moved down his jaw and to his neck, he felt her trying to push his cut and jacket from his shoulders.

He sat up, pulling her with him. He shrugged out of his cut and jacket, tossing them onto the floor. He smiled into her kisses as her hands found their way inside his t-shirt, giving a small groan as one of her fingernails raked over a nipple.

He started to pull her shirts up, he wanted the skin on skin contact. She broke their kiss, getting off of him. For a split second he was confused, until she pulled off her shirts, then grinning at him, she started to unbutton her jeans.

He grinned back, toeing his boots off. Standing, he unbuckled his belt, getting out of his jeans and socks. When they were both down to their underwear, he pulled her to him, kissing her roughly, gratified at the groan in the back of her throat.

She pushed him back down on the bed, straddling him again. He grinned at the push and pull for control the two of them were having. It had been awhile since he had experienced that. Croweaters let him do whatever he wanted, no push back. Harlow wasn’t havin’ that.

She leaned in kissing him as roughly as he had just kissed her, moving her lips down his jaw to his neck. A moan escaped him as her teeth came into play on his neck and down his shoulder blade. 

As her hips ground into his, he grabbed her ass trying to give them both more of the friction they were needin’. He grinned into her hair as her hips bucked a little. He moved his lips to her ear, enjoying the small shudder she gave as he gave her earlobe a gentle bite.

While he was distracting her, he flipped them over so he was leaning over her. Her eyes were nearly as dark as his as she smiled up at him through her lashes. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as she reached up with those long arms, putting them around his neck and pulling him down into another fierce kiss.

Breaking the kiss, he used his mouth and hands as he moved down her body, learning that a small bite on her shoulder could make her shiver. That if he rolled a nipple between his teeth, she would dig her nails into his scalp. That she would giggle if he kissed her along her ribcage. That if he nipped at her hipbone she’d make a small keening sound. 

He hooked a finger waistband of her black bikini panties, pulling at them. He could hear a small chuckle as she bent a leg up to help him remove them. Looking up at her he was momentarily confused until he looked back to guide the panties down her other leg. Then he chuckled a little himself as he placed a small kiss upon the small thatch of ginger hair. “Told ye lass, I do love a ginger.” Her only response was to thread her fingers in his hair and hook a leg over his shoulder.

He turned his head, alternating between giving her inner thigh gentle bites and rough kisses, enjoying the gasps and squirming they were creating. He moved up her thigh to the prize in the Cracker Jack box. He smiled at the sound that escaped her. It was somewhere between a sigh of relief and a deep groan of pleasure. It was a sound that went straight to his dick.

He gave a small moan himself as the taste of her hit his tongue. It was a taste he could get used to having on his lips. Her hands tangled themselves into his hair tighter as he grazed his teeth over her clit. The leg she had thrown over his shoulder trying to pull him closer.

He smiled as he used his mouth to open her up, plunging his tongue into her, he could feel the muscles of her pussy trying to contract around it. As he continued to use his tongue to probe, to tease, he could feel her hands leave his hair, nails digging into his shoulders, trying to pull him up.

Lifting his head, he sunk two fingers into that tight, wet heat, getting harder as he knew if she was that tight around his fingers, it would be heaven for his cock. When his eyes met hers, he could see the want in them, knowing it matched his own.

He shimmied out of his boxers as he moved back up her body. When his lips found hers again, she wrapped her legs around him, lifting her hips. In one smooth stroke, he buried himself in that tight heat.

They both stilled for a moment, getting used to each other. Then she kissed him deeply as she rolled her hips gently. “Ah…lass.” He breathed into her mouth.

She smiled as she continued the gentle rhythm she had set. “Yes.” She breathed back.

He shook his head as he buried his face in her neck, licking at the sweat that had started to form, quickening the pace just a touch, feeling her hands start to grab at his back, nails raking at his ass, spurring him on.

As he pushed himself up, she grinned at him, tightening her thighs around his waist, rolling them over again so she was back on top. Raining kisses down his neck, he could feel the smile as she set an excruciatingly slow rhythm, almost teasing him.

Pressing his fingers into her hips, he once again picked up their pace, and as pure need took over, the two of them began grabbing at each other with hands, lips, and teeth, he could feel both of them at the threshold.

When their orgasms hit, they had both sunk their teeth into the other’s shoulder, each of them effectively marking the other. After riding out their highs, they sat there silent for a moment, arms wrapped around each other, catching their breath. 

He laid back as she rolled off of him, lying on her back, both of them still breathing deeply. He turned his head, looking at her. She looked over at him, a satisfied smile on her face. He was pretty sure he had an identical one on his own.

Reaching over, he pulled her back to him, kissing her. She broke the kiss, rolling away. She leaned over grabbing a pack of cigarettes off of the table. Shaking one out, she handed it to him as she shook out another for herself. After she lit her smoke, she handed him the lighter.

He lit his own smoke, handing the lighter back to her. As she exhaled, she looked back to him, smile still on her face. “Now, that’s a proper shag.”

He chuckled as she laid back, resting her head on his abdomen. He gave her ass a gentle pat. “Aye luv that it was.” He looked over at the digital clock on the table, it was nearly five-thirty.

They both laid there in a satisfied silence, smoking.

Chapter Twenty-Six

After he had unpacked his bag and took a couple of drinks from the Macallan he had snagged from Harlow, Tig went down to the main clubhouse. When he got down there only Juice and Happy were there with some croweaters and hanger-ons that tended to show up on Fridays.

He sat down by Hap and looked over at Juice. “Where are Jax and Chibs?”

Juice looked at him. “Chibs grabbed a bottle of whiskey and headed for the dorms. Think Jax is talking to Gemma.”

He nodded, lighting a smoke. He smiled a little inwardly, he was pretty positive that Chibs hadn’t taken the bottle to his own room. He was happy the Scot wasn’t wasting any time. Jax hadn’t hidden his interest in Harlow very well at all. And while he was pretty certain Harlow wasn’t the kind of chick to fall for bullshit lines from married men, Jax did have a way of getting what he wanted.

As he sat there smoking, Jax came in. Sitting down with the three of them, Jax looked around. “Where’s Chibs?”

Hap and Juice looked at him. He shrugged. “Guess he grabbed a bottle of whiskey and went to the dorms.” He got up, heading to the bar to grab a beer. As he was opening it he watched Jax walk back to the dorms. He quickly followed.

When the two of them were alone in the hallway, he reached out grabbing the younger man’s arm. “Leave them be.”

Jax turned to him, his eyes looking down at the hand holding his arm. Tig let go. Jax leaned back against the wall. “Why do you care?”

He shrugged. “I like her.” Then leaned back against the other wall, turning the tables on Jax. “Why are you so hot to have her? Because Chibs wants her? Or because she wants Chibs?”

It was Jax’s turn to shrug at him. He continued to look at the newish President of SAMCRO until Jax looked down at the floor. “I don’t know.”

That honesty took him back a little. Jax continued, still looking at the floor. “Maybe it’s because I can remember the shit from all those years ago.” Jax looked back up at him, his blue eyes that somehow always reminded Tig of a summer sky, confused. “I can remember my Dad talking to Mac, trying to reassure him that The Sons would find her and when they did, Mac could bring her here to meet the home charter.” Jax’s voice was quiet and serious.

His heart ached just a little at the vulnerability in Jax’s voice. He knew what was going on. Part of Jax’s life was falling apart and he was searching for something to make it bearable. He could understand it, but it wasn’t fair to Harlow to put that on her. He nodded. “I can understand that, but it’s not fair to put that on her.” He sighed. “I can’t tell ya what to do, but if all your chasin’ after is somethin’ to make you forget, don’t do that to her, she deserves better.” Then smiled a little. “But if it’s her you honestly want, hey, may the better man win.”

Jax narrowed his eyes at him a bit. “And you would prefer that it was Chibs.”

He shrugged. “Actually, I really don’t give a fuck. She’s a smart chick. She’ll do what’s best for her.” He gave Jax another small smile. “But yeah. I think Chibs fits her better.” He shrugged again. “Seems to understand her instinctively.” A part of him really had no idea why he hadn’t already exited this conversation, except it was keeping Jax away from Harlow’s room.

Jax, still leaning against the wall, pulled out a pack of smokes, shaking one out and lighting it. After exhaling, Jax gave him a knowing look. “Like you do right?”

He laughed and shook his head. “No, there are things about that girl I’ll never understand.”

He nearly laughed at the look on Jax’s face. He wasn’t lyin’, he had no fuckin’ clue how Harlow had managed to keep, well, the only way he could think to put it was her capacity for joy, of almost childlike exuberance. Someone who had been through the life she had as a kid should be far more fucked up than she seemed to be.

Jax continued to gawk at him. He chuckled, he was done. “Look, you’re gonna do whatever you wanna do anyway. But I’ll tell ya this. That girl isn’t normal, never has been, never will be.” He chuckled a little harder. “And she’s just fine with that.”

Jax studied him for another minute. “Okay.” Jax nodded again. “You’ve said your piece. I guess this will shake out however it shakes out.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I suppose it will.” He watched Jax go into his dorm. After the door closed on the SAMCRO President’s room, he turned and went back to the main clubhouse.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

He stepped into his dorm room, shutting the door on Tig. He fell back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling thinking about what his SAA had said. He had surprised himself at how honest he had been with Tig.

He didn’t think he wanted Harlow because he wanted to forget about his situation with Tara, He didn’t think he could if he tried. He was caught between feelings of intense guilt and just thinking no matter how much he and Tara loved each other, ultimately they each were poison to the other.

Maybe it was just because Harlow seemed so different from Tara. Tara was a fairly quiet, serious woman. Harlow didn’t seem to be either. And if he was frank with himself, Harlow seemed far more comfortable in her own skin than Tara did.

Sighing he sat up, pulling a joint out of his cut, he lit it and took a large hit. As he exhaled he thought of his VP being in Harlow’s room. He didn’t like the surge of jealousy that went through him, but there it was. He took another hit from the joint, and then put it out, getting up.

He poked his head out of his doorway, making sure the hall was clear. Leaving his room, he went to Harlow’s door. As he went to knock on the door he could hear a distinctly feminine groan, quickly followed by one of a lower timbre.

He dropped his hand and turned, heading back to his room. When he had closed the door behind him and locked it, he laid back down on the bed. He looked over at the clock on the desk. Six o’clock. Church in an hour.

His mind wandered back to the room down the hall and what was happening in it. His imagination running wild, his dick was getting hard. He sighed, unbuckling his belt. As his hand made his way into his boxers, he closed his eyes, seeing those cherry red curls between his legs.

His hand sped up as he imagined those long legs wrapped around him while he pounded her. He had the idea that she would like rough and tumble rather than the soft and gentle that Tara preferred.

As his finish approached he went back to imagining those red curls between his legs as she swallowed his load. He could feel himself cumming as it spilled out over his hand.

He laid there for a moment, catching his breath. Getting up and heading towards the shower, he sighed. It was going to have to be a cold one, because for at least tonight, Harlow had made her choice. 

 

Chapter Twenty-Eight

He stood in the shower in Harlow’s room, when he had asked her if she had wanted to join him, she had grinned. “Can you be late to this meeting?”

He had shaken his head. “No.” He smiled at her, he had a feeling what her answer would be.

Still grinning she laughed. “Then no. Because you would end up being late, really late, as in absent.”

Letting the water run over him, he chuckled a little. Round two had been even better than round one, as the scratches on his back and chest were telling him. He hadn’t been wrong when he told Jackie that the girl was a pistol.

Stepping out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around him and walked out to find his clothing. 

Harlow was sitting on the now more than a little rumpled bed, still starkers, smoking a joint while looking at something on one of the laptops. He could see something sticking out of the side of it blinking green. He nodded towards it. “What’s that?”

She smiled. “I am my own Wi-Fi hot spot. Means I don’t have to tap into anyone else’s.” She shrugged. “Makes things easier.”

As he got dressed, he peeked at the screen. It looked like she was checking emails, he really wasn’t sure. She looked over at him, smiling. “Not a computer guy are you?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “That’s Juicy’s job.” Then took a good look at all of the bruises and marks on her, tracing one. “Sorry lass.”

She grabbed the hand he had been using to trace one of the marks. “I’m not.” She grinned. “And you should see your back.”

He laughed. “Don’t need to, felt ‘em all when I was in the shower.”

She cringed a little, then laughed. “Well, aren’t we just a pair.” 

He kissed her neck. “Aye.” He smiled as she shivered just a little.

She pushed him away. “Unless you really want to be absent from your meeting, you need to stop.” She smiled, arching an eyebrow. “Because in about thirty seconds I won’t be allowing you to go.”

He pulled her back to him and gave her neck one last kiss, then stood. “As much as fun as that sounds, I do have to go lass. Usually only lasts an hour.”

She smiled up at him. “Oh, I know. Tig explained Friday nights around here. I’m looking forward to food.” Her grin got bigger. “For some odd reason, I am really hungry.”

He laughed as he put his jacket and cut back on. “Oh I could probably come up with a few.” He leaned down and gave her another rough kiss. “I’ll be back up once we’re done.”

She let go of his cut. “Sounds like a plan. Now go before you’re late.”

He chuckled a little. “Yes ma’am.” He slipped out her door, leaning for a moment on the closed door that now separated them. Oh, this woman was a handful. It had been a very long time since he had felt anything close to what he was feelin’ at the moment. He sighed and made his way to the main clubhouse and church.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

When church was over, Jax had asked Chibs to hang back, needing to talk to him about something. Tig just hoped it was actual club business and not Jax trying to figure out a way to Harlow.

He nearly laughed as Chibs had come into the chapel, hair still damp, and he could see a couple of bruises on the Scotsman’s neck. Jax had a look he couldn’t interpret on his face. It seemed to be part jealousy, part amusement, and something he couldn’t place.

He walked back to the dorms, stopping at the room Gem had put Harlow in. Knocking on the door. “Hey doll, ya decent?” Then opened the door.

She laughed. “Obviously doesn’t matter to you if I am or not.” He could hear her from the bathroom. She came out, almost dressed, the only thing missing were jeans. 

Getting a look at the map of bruises along her thighs, he shook his head in amusement, more than a little jealousy, and a little anger towards Gem. “Jesus, doll.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Gave as good as I got.” She started to chuckle. “Nice move with the Macallan, by the way.”

He tried for an innocent look. “No idea what ya mean doll.” Nearly laughing as she rolled her eyes at him.

“Whatever.” She grinned at him. He shrugged, He knew she wasn’t stupid and wasn’t going to insult her by denying it further. She got into her jeans. “Where’s Chibs?”

He shrugged. “Jax needed to talk to him for a minute.” He wasn’t going to tell her about his little conversation with the SAMCRO president earlier.

She nodded, and went over to the bed, grabbing the pack of cigarettes that were by the computer. Getting one out, she lit it. “Club business or Jax being nosy?”

He shrugged, small smile on his face. “No idea, doll.” Then asked. “Bother you if it’s Jax bein’ nosy?”

She shook her head. “No, because Filip will tell him to mind his own fucking business.” She grinned. “Literally.”

He laughed, then grew a little more serious. “You and Chibs, huh?”

She shook her head, a wry smile on her face. “Think by now Tig, you’d know I take most everything one day at a time.” Then she shrugged. “It is kind of nice not having to lie at all, gotta admit that.”

He took the smoke from her, taking a drag, then giving it back to her. “I’m sure it is.” He patted her shoulder. “I’m gonna head back down, ya comin’ or are ya gonna wait for Chibs?”

She smiled. “Told Filip I’d wait for him. So that’s what I should probably do.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, probably. I’ll see ya in a bit then.”

She nodded as she was moving back towards her computer. “Okay.”

When he left the room, she was back to doing something on one of her computers.

Chapter Thirty

After church Jackie had asked him to stay behind to talk about a couple of things. From the time he had walked in he had noticed the small looks that Jackie continually gave him.

After everyone had left, Jackie had jumped into some club business that he didn’t want to talk about in front of others, so he thought he was clear. Then right as he was getting’ ready to leave the chapel to go get Harlow, Jackie looked at him. “So, you and Harlow huh?”

He smiled to himself a little, the lad was so fuckin’ transparent. He met Jackie’s gaze, and then saw something other than just want in the younger man’s eyes. He wasn’t sure what it was, hell, he was positive Jackie didn’t know what it was either. So he just nodded. “For the moment.” He chuckled. “She doesn’t think long term, not built for it. So I think we’ll just take it day to day.”

He continued to look at Jax. “Ye gonna tell her about Mac and Wyatt?”

Jackie shook his head. “Mom thinks she’ll bolt if we do.”

He shook his head a little. “Not sure if not tellin’ her is the right thing Jackie. She’s a chick who doesn’t like surprises, doesn’t like not bein’ in control of her life.”

Jackie took that in. “I’ll think about it.” So in other words, not going to tell her. He shook his head mentally. Jackie and Gemma were inviting trouble by not tellin’ her. He’d pull Tig aside later and talk to him about it.

He nodded. “Good. Anything else?”

Jax shook his head, then smiled. “Nah. Go get her, bet she’s hungry.”

He laughed. “Yeah, probably is.”

Jackie laughed. “Shit, you saw what she put away at lunch. She fuckin’ eats like a teenage boy.”

He laughed his way out of chapel and most of the way to Harlow’s room.

Chapter Thirty-One

She was enjoying the party. The food had been good and she had eaten a ton of it, prompting Gemma to look at her in amazement. “Fuck sweetie, if I ate like that I’d be as huge as a house.”

She grinned at the older woman. “Genetics, I think. My metabolism seems to be sky high. I eat about three thousand calories a day. And that’s just to maintain the weight I have.” She shrugged because she really wasn’t sure where it came from. “I know my Dad was fairly lean. No idea about the rest of it.”

She watched as Gemma blanched a little at her matter of fact tone. The older woman seemed to take it personally that she had been abandoned by her father. It was sweet in a very odd way.

Neither Filip nor Tig had strayed far from her the entire night. Both had been helpful explaining who was who. Although when Happy came to ask to talk to her for a moment, both men had disappeared.

She looked at Happy, who looked like he really didn’t want to be doing what he was doing. She decided she’d help him out a little. “Sorry about blowing up at you earlier. Usually would have blown it off, but the last couple of days thinned the skin for a minute.”

Happy nodded, looking a little more relaxed. “Okay.” He gave her a small smile. “Just most chicks tend to be nervous around me and Tig.”

She nodded, totally understanding that, “Not a shock, but I was raised by a very scary man, and he was frightening because he didn’t look it.”

Happy nodded again. “We cool?”

She smiled. “Very.”

He chuckled a little, getting the joke. “See ya later.”

She watched as Happy went and found a croweater, as Tig had called them, for the night.

About midnight Filip had leaned over, saying something about round three to determine a winner. She had grinned at him. “I already know that answer.” Her grin became a hell of a lot wider. “Both of us.”

He had chuckled as he grabbed her hand pulling her up. “Probably right luv, but let’s go put your theory to the test.”

She had happily agreed. And as he dragged her through the main clubhouse, she saw Tig give the two of them a shit eating grin. She also noticed that Jax did not look thrilled.

While she hadn’t really avoided him, she had made sure the two of them were not left alone. She wasn’t really sure why, well not entirely. He reminded her more than a little of her father. The same kind of charisma.

After getting to her room and through round three where she had been proven right, Filip had decided to bring up the elephant in the room. Jax. Lighting one of her joints, he took a hit and passed it to her. “Noticed that ye won’t be alone with Jackie.”

Taking a hit, she held it while trying to think of an answer that made some sort of sense. Exhaling, she shrugged. “Seemed prudent. Plus, he reminds me of my father.” She smiled at the look on Filip’s face. “Not in the homicidal way. He has the same charisma my father had, has. Don’t know if he’s alive or not. But that’s beside the point.”

Filip nodded. “Don’t trust yerself then?” He sounded, well, not surprised.

She shook her head. “No, just makes me think of my father. I try not to.”

He smiled. “Okay.” He put out the joint.

She smiled back. “Not the answer I expected.”

He looked at her, his voice matter of fact. “Luv, I have no bloody idea what this is, what it might be, or what either one of us wants it to be. But I do know, whatever it ends up bein’, it ain’t gonna be normal. Isn’t who we are.”

He kissed her, this time gently. So gently it put a lump in her throat making it hard to swallow. “It’ll be what it will be, and I think I’m just fine with that.” He kissed her again. “I don’t know about ye lass, but I’m about ready to drop. Think ye wore me out.”

She chuckled. “Lightweight.” She kissed him and then laid her head on his chest, using her index finger to trace the tattoo there. “G’night Filip.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and for the first time ever, she felt content. It was kind of a cool feeling. “Night luv.”

It really did not take long for either of them to fall asleep.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Tig had been pleased about how well Harlow seemed to be fitting in with everyone. She seemed to enjoy being around all of them. The only one she seemed to well, not avoid, but not be alone with was Jax.

He almost felt bad for the guy. He could see that Jax had no idea why she wouldn’t be alone with him. Chibs had explained it to him, and it made perfect sense to him. With what little she had told him about her father, he could see the similarities. And why she would want to avoid them.

Chibs had also told him about Jax and Gemma deciding to not tell her about Mac and Wyatt. He was honest with Chibs; he saw both sides. Gemma was right, she may try to bolt, but Chibs was right too, she wasn’t going to happy with it being sprung on her.

He was sitting out at the picnic tables drinking a beer when the SAMYORK President and Vice-President rode up, Prospect behind them. He was glad Harlow was up in her room, supposedly working, but with Chibs up there with her, who knew. As far as he could tell, the two of them were giving rabbits a run for their money. 

He watched as Jax and Gemma greeted Mac and Wyatt. He got up, making his way over, giving the two men hugs. Mac looked at him. “How is she?”

He smiled. “Ain’t gonna lie, she’s a piece of work brother. But she seems to be fittin’ in here pretty well.” He chuckled. “At least when she comes out of her room.”

Mac frowned. “Why is she holed up?”

It was Gemma who answered with one word. “Chibs.”

Mac grinned at Wyatt. “Okay.” Then laughed. “Sorry Wyatt, looks like she got over ya.”

Tig grinned. She had admitted to him that one of the reasons she had been so pissed at her father for taking her away was her massive crush on the now VP of SAMYORK. “Sorry man.” He clapped Wyatt on the back. “It’s the accent.”

Wyatt flipped them all off as they laughed. “Ha, ha. You’re all a laugh fucking riot.” Wyatt looked around. “Where is she?”

He laughed. “In her room with Chibs. I’ll go get ‘em.” He turned and went to the dorms, knocking on her door. “You two decent?”

Chibs answered. “Aye, ye can come in, it’s unlocked.”

He almost laughed when he went in. It really was as domestic as things in the clubhouse got. Chibs was lying on the bed, reading glasses on, reading through what he assumed was the manuscript that had been sent back to Harlow, while she was working on something on her lap top.

Chibs looked up at him. “What do ye need Tiggy?” Harlow stopped working and looked at him too.

“Jax wants ya both outside.” He looked at Chibs who knew what was comin’.

Harlow looked at him, “Why? I’m in the middle of something.”

Chibs leaned over and stilled her hands. “This is one of those times lass, when ye just gotta do what the President wants.”

She nodded and got up. “Okay.” Then looked at the both of them. “This is about me isn’t it?”

He shrugged. “Probably. Let’s go find out.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

It wasn’t lost on him that he and Chibs each took a spot at her side, like they would protect her from whatever was awaiting her.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Wyatt watched as Mac paced back and forth in front of one of the picnic tables outside of the boxing ring. He knew how nervous his President was. He looked over to Jax, who seemed to be as nervous as Mac.

He walked over. “You look kind of, well, not comfortable.”

Jax leaned over. “She has no idea you guys were comin’. Mom was afraid she’d bolt. I’m not sure we made the right decision in not tellin’ her.”

Wyatt closed his eyes for a second. “Guess we’ll find out.”

Before Jax could say anything, Tig came out the clubhouse door, followed by Harlow. He watched as she stopped dead in her tracks, Chibs nearly running into her. It wasn’t lost on him that she had grabbed the Scotsman’s hand. 

Mac just stood there, him and Harlow just staring at each other. Finally Mac smiled, and took a step towards her. “Harlow.” Wyatt could hear the emotion in the older man’s voice.

He watched Harlow, whom he had to admit, grew into a gorgeous woman, even with the crayon colored hair. He could understand why the Scot seemed to be so taken with her. She was just staring at Mac like he was a mirage, that if she took a step towards him he would disappear.

Finally, Tig leaned over and whispered something in her ear, He watched as she seemed to relax a touch. Tig looked over at Chibs, who gave her a small shove towards Mac. 

She looked at the SAMYORK President. “Mac.” Then looked over to him. “Wyatt.”

He smiled at her. “Hey Sunshine. Been a minute.”

She nodded. Then took another small step towards Mac, who pulled her into his arms. He could see Mac’s back shaking with what he knew to be tears. But what worried him was the look on Harlow’s face. Even though she was hugging Mac almost as tightly as he was hugging her, the look in her eyes was panic.

After she disengaged from Mac, she gave the man a smile, then looked at the rest of them. “Be back in a minute, need to use the restroom.” And then she turned and bolted into the clubhouse.

When Mac, Gemma, and Jax went to follow, Tig and Chibs stood in front of the door, Chibs looking at them all. “Give the lass a minute.” His tone hard. Tig nodded his agreement.

They all took a step back and took seats at the picnic table. Mac looked over at Chibs. “What the fuck?”

To his credit, the Scot did not back down. “She doesn’t like surprises. Give her a minute to get her bearings.”

Mac nodded, then lit a cigarette.

While they were waiting, Happy and Juice pulled in. Walking over Happy looked at all of them. “Any reason Harlow is walkin’ down the street back behind the garage?”

Wyatt looked at Chibs, who was already glaring at Jax. The Scot shook his head, walking over to his bike. He watched as the man checked something in his saddlebag and then took off.

Mac looked at Jax. “You didn’t tell her we were comin’?”

Jax shot a look towards his mother. “No. Thought she might bolt.”

Mac sat there. “Looks like she bolted anyhow.” He sounded fuckin’ miserable.

Tig walked over, patting Mac on his shoulder. “Her stuff is here. She just needs a little time to process, and that’s somethin’ she tends to do while walkin’. Give her a little while.”

Mac put his head in his hands for a minute, then looked back up to Trager. “We shouldn’t have come, huh?”

Tig shook his head. “Let’s go in the clubhouse for a minute.” Then Trager looked at him. “You too.”

They nodded, following the SAMCRO SAA. When Jax and Gemma went to do the same, Tig stopped them. “No. If Harlow wanted you to know this, she would have already said somethin’. Not spreadin’ her business everywhere.”

The two did not look happy, but backed off. 

Chapter Thirty-Four

When Mac got inside the clubhouse he smiled a little. Place hadn’t really changed much since the last time he was here.

He and Wyatt took a beer from Tig. “Spill Trager.” He wanted an explanation. “Know that Asa abandoned her when she was sixteen, book told me that much. Why didn’t she come back to us?”

Tig sat, looking like he really did not feel comfortable with this conversation. “She thought about it. And being her, she did a little research first. Found out Mary died six months after they left.” The man sighed. “Being a kid, she thought you would blame her.”

The beer he had been lifting to drink, he put down. “Why would she think that? I would have never blamed her, what happened with Mary was unavoidable, she should have been smart enough to know that.”

Tig shrugged. “Asa fucked that girl up, taught her never to get close to anyone.” Then he smiled a little. “By the time she figured out you probably wouldn’t blame her, she had the Feds on her, she wasn’t gonna lead them to your doorstep.”

He sat there a little astounded. “She stayed away to protect us?”

Tig nodded. “Yeah.” Then smiled. “Mac, when she told me about how she knew ya, she called the day you asked her to stay and I’m quotin’ her, ‘the happiest day of my life’.” Then he sighed. “She kept the Polaroid of the two of you on your Harley where she could see it often. I found it when it fell out of the visor in her Jeep when I pulled it down.”

He could feel Wyatt’s hand on his shoulder. Tig looked at the two of them. “Why do ya think she’s so comfortable here? Because she was comfortable with you guys when she was a kid.”

All he could feel at the moment was relief that she hadn’t bolted because she didn’t want to see him. He nodded. “Okay, we’ll give her some time.” Finally taking a drink of his beer.

Wyatt smiled at him. “We did the right thing comin’ here Mac. Looks like there are a couple things that the two of ya need to talk about.”

Tig piped in. “Let Chibs talk her down. He seems to get her.” Laughing a little. “As much as anyone can. She’s kind of a weird chick.”

He nodded. She had been a weird kid. Guess all he could really do was wait.

Chapter Thirty-Five

He found her about ten blocks from the garage, sitting on a retaining wall, smoking a cigarette. 

Pulling his bike up and parking it, he got off and went and sat next to her. “Ye okay?”

She shook her head, looking at him with eyes blazing. “Why didn’t you tell me they were coming?” She was not happy.

He tried to take her hand, she wouldn’t let him. “Jax said not to.”

She let out a deep breath. “And you had to abide by his decision.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement.

He nodded sadly. “Aye. Told him it was a bad idea. Didn’t listen to me.”

“Obviously.” Taking another drag from her cigarette.

He tried for her hand again, this time she let him take it. “I’m sorry luv. Should have told ye anyway.”

She shook her head. “No reason for you to get into trouble with Jax.” She sighed, putting out her cigarette and lighting another.

The two of them sat there for a bit, Harlow smoking and kicking her feet against the wall. He wanted to laugh, it was such a childlike gesture. He was getting ready to suggest getting back when Jax pulled up.

He had to take a deep breath to not start shoutin’ at the lad about how bad he had fucked this up. 

Before he could say a bloody word, Harlow had jumped off the wall and before either he or Jackie could do a blessed thing, she hauled off and punched the lad square in the jaw. “Who the fuck do you think you are making fucking decisions about my life!” Then punched him again.

When she went to punch him a third time, Jackie grabbed her arm. “Are you going to let me explain or do you want to keep hitting me?” Using his other hand to rub his jaw. Looked like the lass got a couple of good shots in. He nearly smiled.

She looked at Jackie, eyes still blazing, taking deep breaths. “Hitting you seems like the better choice, because I’m not sure there is an explanation that will suffice.”

Jackie let go of her arm and stood in front of her. “Go ahead.” He felt a little bad for Jackie, once again Gemma had talked the lad into something that had come back to bite him in the ass.

When Jackie did that, she seemed to lose some of her anger. And as much as he didn’t want to, he thought the two of them needed to talk without a third party involved.

He walked over to Harlow and pulled her aside for a moment, speaking low in her ear. “Hear the lad out. I’m going to get yer helmet from my saddlebag, Jackie can give ye a lift back.” He could feel her tense a little. “The two of ye need to work this out or shit is just gonna get worse.” He was relieved when she relaxed again and nodded.

He let go of her and walked over to his bike grabbing her helmet and sat it on Jackie’s bike. “I’m gonna go back and let the others know what’s going on.” He looked at the two of them. “Ye two work this out before ye come back.” He got on his bike and pulled away hoping he hadn’t made a mistake.


	2. Chapter Thirty-Six through Chapter Thirty-Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harlow and Jax talk. Chibs, Jax and Harlow get back to the clubhouse, and Harlow has a long awaited reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, not beta'd. All mistakes are mine.

He went and sat next to Harlow who had gone back to sitting on the retaining wall. The two of them sat there silently for a bit. He finally broke the quiet. “I’m sorry. I listened to Gemma, she thought you might bolt if we told you.”

She shook her head at him. “You guys are still working on my Jeep, where would I have gone?” She gave a sarcastic snort. “Don’t get me wrong, I like Gemma, for the most part, but you gotta stop listening to her so much. Just because she’s convinced she’s right doesn’t mean she is.”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He gave a heavy sigh. “I know.” He sat there a minute, trying to frame what he wanted to say next. “You have to understand, when your Dad took you away from Mac and Mary, it was a rough time for my Mom and Dad.” He took a deep breath. “My younger brother had just died and with Mac and Mary so upset, my Dad put out word to all chapters to be lookin’ for the two of you to get you back to Mac and Mary.” He closed his eyes for a minute. “I think for my Mom, this is her following the order my Dad put out all those years ago.”

When he opened his eyes, he saw Harlow looking at him, tears in her eyes. She wiped them away. “Looks like I was wrong, the explanation is sufficient.” She lit another smoke. “But you should have trusted me to make that decision for myself.”

This time it was his turn to snort. “Little hard to trust someone who doesn’t trust you.” He looked at her. “You won’t even be alone with me for five minutes.” He had the feeling this was the shit that Chibs wanted worked out.

She nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” She sighed. “I haven’t been fair to you. Between Tig telling me to stay clear due to your…” He could see her searching for the right words. “Domestic situation, and the similarities between you and my Dad, I avoided you.” She looked at him, her navy eyes filled with emotions he couldn’t interpret.

He lit his own cigarette and took a drag, exhaling the smoke slowly. “What similarities?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

She laughed a little at that. “I don’t think you’re a psychopath like my Dad, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She seemed a little embarrassed. He wanted to hold her hand or hug her to reassure her, but was afraid to. She sighed. “You have same kind of benign look that he had.” Then smiled at him. “And the same kind of charm and charisma.” He noticed she turned a little pink at that admission. “It’s a little weird.” He frowned a little. She sighed. “I try not to think about him. I either end up furious or depressed.”

He blinked at her. He hadn’t thought about it like that. But, then again he’d never been abandoned by a parent, so he couldn’t even begin to say he understood how she felt. “I guess I can understand that. But what I don’t get is why you just wouldn’t tell me this a couple of days ago.”

She shrugged. “Don’t know many people who would be happy to hear that they remind someone of a hired killer.” Then chuckled. “Plus the less you knew, the less your Mom knew. Been trying to keep her out of my business. The less she knows, the less she can meddle.” He chuckled as she laughed a little harder. “And as far as I can tell she’s turned meddling into an Olympic sport.”

He started to laugh, a genuine belly laugh. It had been a while since he had laughed like that. He could see why Chibs seemed to be as taken with her as he was. But the longer he talked with her, the less he wanted her in that way. Her and Chibs were starting to make a hell of a lot more sense to him.

His laughter died down, some. “Yeah, she really has.” He patted her knee. “She usually means well, but, sometimes she tends to take kind of a narrow scope.” He shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, she only meddles when she likes someone.”

She nodded. “I know.” She laughed again. “Do you really think Tig let me walk into all of this without giving me a lay of the land?” 

He shook his head. “No, not really.” He looked at her seriously. “We okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.” Then chuckled. “But I’m still going to lay into your Mom a bit. No common fucking sense. Where the fuck was I gonna bolt to? This fucking retaining wall, that’s where. Pretty easy to find me.”

He laughed again. “No one ever accused my Mom of always making sense.” He continued to chuckle. “Sometimes she just operates on pure instinct.”

She jumped down from the wall. “We should probably get back.” She sighed. “Poor Mac, I’ve probably freaked him the hell out.”

He ushered her to his bike. “A little, but I think Tig was talking him down from that.” He watched to see if that was going to freak her out any.

She nodded. “Yeah, he’d be able to do that.” He almost smiled at how much she seemed to trust Tig. With what happened with Dawn and Fawn, even though he knew Tig didn’t look at her like a daughter, his SAA seemed to need Harlow’s friendship, and the trust that came with it. Thinking about it, maybe he did too.

He handed her the helmet Chibs had left behind as he got on his bike. “Let’s go before Chibs comes back to make sure you haven’t beaten the crap out of me.”

She grimaced a little. “Sorry about that. Sometimes my temper gets the best of me.” 

He shrugged. “Kind of asked for it.” He smiled a little, rubbing his jaw again, it was gonna be sore for a while. “Although I do have to admit, you pack a hell of a punch.” He looked at her, she was a little pink again.

She closed her eyes for a second. “My Dad started training me to be able to defend myself by the time I was six. Boxing, Krav-Maga, and how to handle a knife and a gun.” She sighed. “Why do you think he was so comfortable with leaving me?”

He winced a little at the almost plaintive tone at that last part. Even though she wouldn’t sell her father out to the Feds, she was still one very hurt little girl in some ways. He had no answer for her. “C’mon, let’s get back.” He looked at her, wanting to make her feel a little better, “Think of it this way. Yeah, one father abandoned you, but another has spent twenty plus years looking for you.”

She blinked a couple of times taking that in. “Hadn’t thought of it that way.” She swung a leg over the back of his bike. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

When he got back to the clubhouse, he saw everyone other than Tig, Mac, and Wyatt sitting outside. When he walked up to them, Gemma stood. “Where are Jax and Harlow?”

He glared at her a little. “Trying to sort out what ye set up by convincing the lad not to tell her about Mac.” He shook his head. “Jackie just took a couple of punches for that.”

Gemma tried to defend herself. “She has a habit of running.” While Gem didn’t look happy that Jackie had taken a lot of shit for the decision, she still seemed convinced she was right.

He shook his head. “Where was she gonna go Gem? Her Jeep is still in pieces, all of her stuff is in a room upstairs.” Sometimes Gem did not think shit through.

Gemma looked at him, starting to get it. “I just wanted to make sure that her and Mac reconnected.” She looked as vulnerable as Gemma got.

He felt his anger dissipate some. He sighed. “I know. But Gem, ye gotta trust the lass to make her own decisions. She’s been takin’ care of herself for a long time. She’s not used to havin’ a bunch of people in her business.”

Gemma nodded. “I’ll apologize when she gets back.”

He chuckled. “I’d be prepared to at least be layed into.” Chuckling harder. “And quite possibly hit. She was pretty pissed.”

He heard Mac’s voice behind him. “How pissed?” He felt bad for the man, he thought he was comin’ for a long awaited reunion and had walked into a clusterfuck.

He turned. “She’s not pissed at ye Mac. She’s pissed that other people…” He looked over at Gem. “Were makin’ decisions for her.” 

He knew that everyone thought all the two of ‘em were doin’ up in that room was fucking. And while there was certainly plenty of that, the two of them had actually talked a lot. He liked talking with her. Unlike some croweaters, she was smart and opinionated, funny and honest. And they had talked about her time with SAMYORK. He knew how she felt about Mac, and had even admitted her girlhood crush on Wyatt.

Mac looked over at Gemma then back to him. “Where is she?” Mac seemed a little calmer. When Tig and Wyatt came out of the clubhouse, Tig gave him a look telling him that he had handled it.

He sighed. “She threw a couple of puches at Jackie. Thought the two of them needed to straighten shit out without a third party butting in.” Before he could elaborate, Jackie pulled into the lot, the lass on the back of his bike.

He was a little relieved to see her go and put her helmet back in his saddlebag. As she stood back up, he could see her take a deep breath, could see how tense she was as she made her way across the lot, Jackie following.

When she reached them, she turned to Gemma. “If you ever make a decision like that again for me, I will bounce your ass around this parking lot until I get bored. And I have a very high boredom threshold. And as badass as you think you are, I’m fucking lethal. Feel me?” 

He smiled a little as Gem took a small step back. The anger in the lass’ voice was like a slap on its own. But Gem, being Gem, she recovered quickly. “I feel ya.”

Harlow nodded. “Good.” Then looked over her shoulder at Jackie. “You may want to get your son some ice for the punches he took for your idiotic idea.” He looked over at the man, the jaw was starting to bruise just a little. 

Then the lass turned to Mac, who at this point as far as he could tell, was strung so tight he was about ready to snap. “Sorry, but I don’t deal well when huge things are sprung on me.” She glared at Gemma again. He had the feeling it would be a while before the lass was gonna let the older woman off the hook.

He could see the SAMYORK president relax. “Don’t worry about it.” The man threw Gem his own look. “It’s understandable.”

Harlow looked around, noticing the rather large audience around the picnic tables. She caught his eyes, and for the first time he could see a vulnerability in them. He smiled as he gave her a slight nod. 

When she turned back to Mac, he could see the vulnerability had gone, replaced by a decisiveness. “Mac, Wyatt. Why don’t we go up to my room and talk? I don’t think we need an audience.”

The two men nodded and turned to go into the clubhouse. When the lass turned to follow them, as she passed him, she grabbed his hand, giving it a too brief, tight squeeze. He stopped her for a moment, kissing her cheek, smiling a little as she leaned into it. “It’ll be just fine luv.” He murmured into her ear.

She nodded as she walked away, patting Tiggy on the arm as she entered the clubhouse. 

Chapter Thirty-Eight

When she let Mac and Wyatt into her room, she smiled a little as she watched the two of them look around, trying to see what they could glean about her from what was strewn around her current living space.

While she may not have looked it, she was absolutely shaking on the inside. This was one of those moments that if she ever thought about it thrilled and terrified her at the same time. Really the only thing that could top this would be Asa showing his face. But that was something that she was nearly one hundred percent certain of, never seeing him again.

She gestured for the two men to find a seat. Mac took the chair at the desk while Wyatt perched on a stack of totes. Shrugging, she sat on the bed. Leaning over, she grabbed the pack of cigarettes next to her laptop. Lighting one, she turned back to the two men. “So…if either of you have any idea where to start, feel free to jump right in.”

The three of them looked at each other for a minute, then broke out laughing. It really was a little absurd.

Wyatt looked over at her. “Ya could have come back Sunshine.” His tone tried for matter of fact, but she could hear the slight accusation in his voice.

She shook her head. “I didn’t want the Feds anywhere near you or the club.” She sighed, it was simple, but it wasn’t. “Look, you guys have figured out some of what happened from the book right?” They both nodded. “Well, the Feds have taken a close look too. If I went and sought you out, that lets them know at some point Asa crossed your path and things in the past get looked into.”

She smiled as Mac sat back taking it all in. “What about now?”

Her smile got bigger. “Met Tig at a bar. Because of the piss poor shape my Jeep was in, he offered TM for a fix. Club was kind enough to offer a room. You guys happen to be out here for whatever reason.” Then she chuckled a little thinking of a certain SAMCRO member. “And if I stay, I think I’ve got that covered.”

She looked at both men, hoping they would understand. It was about protecting the one truly good moment she had found during her childhood. She would have been devastated if she had put them on the Feds radar. 

Mac looked at her for a long moment. As she was beginning to squirm a little, he nodded. “I get it.” He shook his head a little. “I think.” Then he started to laugh. “You still think too much Sunshine.” Then his laughter died down a little. “And while I get it, ya should have let us have a say in that decision.”

Wyatt chimed in. “We might have been able to figure somethin’ out.” The sincerity in their voices made her feel good, maybe what Jax had said earlier rang far more true than she had thought.

She shrugged. “I just went with what was safest for all of us.” Then looked down at the floor for a minute. “And the more years that passed, I just found myself spending more and more time on the west coast.” Still looking at the floor. “So I wouldn’t have to think about it.”

None of them said anything for a few minutes. Both men had lit cigarettes and were smoking them. She saw Wyatt and Mac exchange a small look. Wyatt reached over and patted her knee. “I’m gonna let the others know that they can go on with their day, things up here are fine.” Then chuckled. “Plus, not seeing any beers up here”

That made her laugh. “No, no beers.” Then looked around. “We must have killed the Jameson’s last night.” 

Wyatt smiled. “Then I’m going where the beer is.” He looked at the two of them. “See ya in a bit.” Then let himself out in search of refreshment.

After the door closed, she turned back to Mac, who was just looking at her. She smiled a little, knowing that he was trying to reconcile what he had in his head with what was sitting in front of him, so she sat patiently.

After a few more minutes of silence, he spoke, voice a little rough. “Knew you’d turn into a good lookin’ woman.” Then laughed a little. “Even if you do have the hair of a clown.”

She shrugged. “Made me laugh. It was violet with hot pink streaks.” Laughing at the look on his face. It really was paternal in the ‘you are a total spaz but I love you anyway’ kind of look.

“Okay.” She laughed again, his tone of voice conveying the same information. He shook his head. “I shouldn’t be surprised. You were a weird kid.”

She smiled. “And you liked that about me.” Then her smile faded. “So did Mary.”

That made Mac smile sadly. “Yeah, she did.” He leaned over and took her hand. “She never gave up that we would find ya. Not once.” She could see the tears in his eyes. Felt herself fighting her own. 

All she could really do was nod. She didn’t trust her voice. She had the feeling if she tried talking she would start to bawl, and that was something she was really trying not to do.

She was grateful that Mac seemed to understand that she had reached a limit for the moment. He squeezed her hand gently. “Think I’m going to follow Wyatt to find that beer.” He stood up. “You need a few minutes Sunshine?”

She nodded, looking at the spot on the wall behind him. She needed a few minutes, a shot of whiskey and a fat joint. She had two out of the three here. She’d have to wait on the booze.

He looked at her again with a gentle smile. “I’ll see ya in a few minutes.” Then quietly let himself out of the room.

Taking deep breaths, trying to keep the tears at bay, she reached over by her laptop again for her silver container, pulling a joint out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you're enjoying it! Feel free to leave any comments, concerns, or constructive criticisms.
> 
> Thanks to those who have clicked that kudo button and that have taken the time to comment. Much love right back at ya!


	3. Chapters Thirty-Nine and Forty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chibs checks up on Harlow, and the others are left waiting in the main clubhouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, not beta'd. (Once again, would really love a beta for this fandom. Anyone who is interested can email me through the email on my profile page.) All mistakes are mine.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

He had sat at a table in the clubhouse wandering what was happening back in the dorms, if the lass was doin’ alright. He knew part of the reason she kept moving was so she wouldn’t have to look back. Too much anger, too many regrets. It was an instinct he understood. He had moved a continent away to escape his.

He looked over as Tig sat a beer in front of him. “She’s fine.” The other man sat down, putting his own beer on the table. “Or she will be.”

He nodded, taking a drink of his beer. He wasn’t feeling very talkative. Or better put, the person he felt like talking to wasn’t currently in the room.

Tig shrugged and drank his beer. The two sat there in silence as the others milled around waiting to see if anymore fireworks went off. 

He had just finished his beer when Wyatt appeared. When he looked over at his counterpart from SAMYORK, the man looked back at him, tension gone from his body. “Mac wanted a couple of minutes.” Then grinned. “And I wanted a beer.”

He nodded, feeling a little relief. When Wyatt grabbed his beer, he came and sat with him and Tig, leaning over. “Ya may want to go up there, she was starting to teeter a little. She’ll hold on until she can get Mac out of there.”

He nodded, appreciating that Wyatt was keeping his voice low, so the only other who could hear was Tiggy, whom she trusted. “Yeah.”

Without explaining himself to anyone, he got up and walked back to the dorms. As he was approaching Harlow’s room, Mac stepped through the door, closing it softly. The man looked up, spying him.

Mac motioned for him to stay put, walking to him. “Good, Wyatt sent ya back.” Mac patted him on the shoulder. “Think I might have pushed just a little too far.” He could see the man felt badly. “Probably shouldn’t have brought Mar up.”

He shrugged. Even Harlow had admitted when it came to the past, who knew what would set her off. “It’ll take time. Now that she’s here, ye’ve got that.” He looked to the door of her room, wanting to see for himself how she was.

Mac nodded absently. “Yeah, guess so.” The man sighed. “I need a drink.” He watched the older man walk towards the main clubhouse.

He walked over and knocked softly on the door. “It’s me lass.”

“Yeah.” Her voice sounded strained, like she was having trouble keeping it working.

He let himself into the room he had spent more time in over the last couple of days than his own. Locking the door behind him, he sat down by her on the bed. Looking at her, he could see the tension through her neck and shoulders, up into her jaw. “Ye alright luv?”

She shrugged as she took a hit off of a joint she had lit. “I will be.” She turned to look at him. “It’s all a little surreal.” She handed him the joint. “I mean, I knew if I stuck around it was going to happen eventually. But I guess in my head I had a far more linear process.” She took another hit as he passed it back to her. “I just hate feeling like I have an audience watching my life happen.” He could see her instincts to run trying to kick in, a kind of submerged panic in the back of her eyes.

He took the joint from her and put it out in the ashtray on the bed, then set the ashtray on the nightstand. He also moved her laptop and silver joint holder. Once he had cleared the bed, he pulled her to him, laying down as he wrapped his arms around her. 

“I know lass, and no one here is gonna begrudge ye the time ye need to deal with all of this.” He chuckled a little, it wasn’t necessarily a happy one. “Know I’d be all sorts of twisted if I suddenly had all these people expecting to jump right into my life.” 

And even if he didn’t want to, he was including himself in that, although he was hoping rather than expecting to be a part of her life. But he was a realist, and at this point if she was freaked out enough, he would not be enough to hold her here in Charming.

Some of his own fears were being put to rest when she laughed lightly. “Oh, I don’t know. I haven’t minded all of it.” She laughed a little harder as she threw a leg across his. “In fact parts of it have been pretty wonderful and a bit eye opening.”

He sat up a little, looking at her. “Eye opening in what way?” While he was certain at this point Jackie would no longer be a problem, he wasn’t taking any chances.

Sitting up also, she smiled at him. “For the first time ever I can see myself in the same place for more than a couple of weeks and be just fine with it.” It wasn’t lost on him that she was resting her hand on his heart.

He reached up, putting a hand in the curls he loved, chuckling a little. She hated them, but after a couple of rounds of intense negotiations, she had handed over the hair dryer that would get rid of them. 

She arched an eyebrow as he pulled her down to him. “Think we’ll actually be missed now.”

He kissed her hard. “Think Tiggy will make our excuses for us.” He continued kissing her as he pulled on her shirt.

She laughed into his mouth as her hands worked at his cut and jacket. “I can only imagine.”

He chuckled a little at that and then words became scarce as the two of them found far better things to spend their energies on.

Chapter Forty

After Mac came into the main clubhouse, most of the others had wondered off to go back to their Sunday afternoon. With Mac, Wyatt, and their prospect, who Tig could already see the croweaters fightin’ over, in town, there would be a party tonight. Not a Friday blow out, but a party none the less.

Gemma had said her good-byes, heading to Jax’s to go relieve the babysitter. He had the feeling she really did not want to give Harlow another chance at bitchin’ her out. Looking over at Jax’s slightly swollen and bruised jaw, he thought Gem had gotten off easy.

After a few beers, Mac looked over at him. “Shouldn’t they be down here by now? She just said she needed a few minutes.”

He shook his head as Jax started laughing. He couldn’t help it, he started to chuckle too, “If Chibs hadn’t gone up there, then she would have only been a couple of minutes, but with him in the mix? Could be hours.” He gave the SAMYORK president a wide grin.

As he, Jax, and Wyatt continued to laugh their asses off, Mac looked vaguely embarrassed. He felt a twinge of guilt, in a weird way, they were talking about someone Mac thought of as a daughter. He tried to pacify the man a little. “Hey, last time I thought I would be interruptin’ something, I walked in to Chibs reading and Harlow working on somethin’ on her computer.”

Mac smiled a little. “Nice try Trager. Think I’m stuck with the first image.” Then the man chuckled a little. “Somewhere in my head she’s still twelve.”

He nodded, it was a feeling he could understand. Once his girls had gotten to a certain age it had been tough to not see the kids they had been. “Yeah.” He knew his voice was laced with sadness. Dawn was dead and Fawn was just gone, never to come back.

Mac looked at him for a moment, Jax and Wyatt seemed to understand that this wasn’t a moment for smart assed comments. Mac smiled a little, seeming to understand. “Yeah.”

He took a drink of his beer. He knew what Chibs was doing. He was distracting her, trying to get her past the instinct to run. He saw that urge in her eyes when she had patted his arm before going to talk with Mac and Wyatt. Her Jeep being in pieces was an obstacle, not a guarantee that she would stay, and he was pretty sure that Chibs had figured that out.

The four of them continued to sit, drinking their beers. He had also noticed that Jax was no longer acting like he was just waitin’ for an opening with Harlow. Maybe he’d finally figured out she was far more complicated than she appeared to be at first glance.

After about another forty minutes or so, he could see Mac becoming more agitated. He looked over to Jax, who had also noticed. Jax slid his chair back, standing up. “I’ll go at least knock on the door, let them know that people are waiting.” Jax chuckled. “No reason to have her punch anyone else.”

He nodded. He was pretty sure that she wasn’t necessarily proud that she had lost her temper to the point of punching someone. It was why she tended to bolt and walk her anger off. She was well aware that her father had been training her to be as lethal as he was, so she was careful to control it. So she would be less likely to punch Jax again. 

Mac looked at Jax, a somewhat grateful look on his face. Wyatt just looked vaguely amused by it all.

Jax looked at the three of them and shook his head making his way to the dorms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying it! Feel free to leave any comments, concerns or constructive criticisms.
> 
> Thanks to all who have clicked that kudo button and that have taken the time to comment. You guys rock.


	4. Chapters Forty-One and Forty-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chibs and Harlow have a talk and finally make their way back to the main clubhouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always not beta'd. All mistakes are mine.

Chapter Forty-One

She laid her head on Filip’s heaving chest. She was pretty breathless herself. Shoving damp curls from her eyes, she looked up at him. “Well, that was…” As a writer she was a little embarrassed that she was unable to come up with the words.

He patted the hip that his left hand had been resting on. “Aye. It was.” 

They both chuckled a little. She knew that he was as aware as she was that something important was happening here, between the two of them, but neither one of them was quite ready to talk about it. Because what had just happened wasn’t just about sex, or the distraction that came with it. What had just happened was far more, it was promises made, covenants consecrated by the flesh. And oddly enough, she didn’t feel like wigging out and heading for the hills.

Filip sat up and reached for the cigarettes he had set on the nightstand. He lit one and handed it to her, then lit one for himself. He gazed at her for a moment, a half smile on his face.

She smiled back. “Yes?”

He reached out and brushed her curls out of her face. “Just wonderin’ what ye were thinkin’. I could see yer wheels turnin’.”

She sat up, looking at him, trying to find the right words. She was a writer, the right words were important.

He exhaled the smoke from his lungs as he took her hand. “Remember what I said to ye when I talked to ye when ye were in Weaverville. I’m a big boy lass, I can take whatever ye have to say.”

She realized her reticence had him worried. She leaned over, kissing him. “I was thinking that what just happened was far more than just sex. And I’m really good with that.”

The smile on his face was broad, and it hit her that if she couldn’t see that smile on a daily basis, she would not be okay with that. Still holding her hand, he brought it to his lips. “Aye, it was.” Still holding her hand, his face became more serious. “Ye thinkin’ about stayin’?” She almost laughed at the near trepidation in his voice as he had asked.

She looked back at him, just as serious. “I am.” She got up and started to pace. She thought better on her feet. “Even though I still am beyond aggravated with what Lillian said, both her and Tig are right.” She nodded, mostly to herself. “I have been alone too long. But Lillian thinks that I can just erase my past and have a normal life, whatever constitutes normal in her book.” She took a drag of her smoke. “But I can’t erase it, and I am tired as all hell of having to hide it. Tired as all hell at having to constantly make sure I don’t give away too much.” She sighed and looked at him. “Tired as hell of always having to have my own back.”

He reached up and pulled her back down to the bed and to him. “Yer in the right place then.” He kissed her, once again, as gently as he could. “Ye don’t have to hide, and ye can tell me anything ye want and it’ll go to my grave.” This time the kiss was fiercer and possessive. “And I’ll always have yer back.”

She went to say something, but he put a finger to her lips. Apparently he wasn’t finished. “And I know ye’ve never been what most of the world considers normal, and from what ye’ve said, never been with anyone for more than a few weeks.” 

She tried to interrupt, but he stopped her. “Let me finish lass. What I said before stands. We’ll be whatever we want and the rest of ‘em can go fuck themselves. But I will warn ye, I’m a possessive bastard, so if ye tell me yer mine, that’s what I’m gonna expect. No running off, no sleeping with anyone else. And I’ll promise ye the same.” 

She looked at him, and smiled. “Can I still flirt with Tig and drive him crazy?”

He laughed long and hard. “Of course ye can luv, that’s just good entertainment for all.” The laughter died down a little. “But there will be times when it won’t be okay, like when other charters are in town.” He laughed again. “And no, before ye ask, I’m not countin’ SAMYORK in that.”

She laughed along with him, because that had been her next question. Laying her head back onto his chest, she sighed. “Guess I’ll actually have to look for somewhere to live.” She couldn’t believe she was actually thinking about this. When she had agreed to come here with Tig, her plan had been to get her package, maybe hang for a day or so and then move on, like she always had. Guess the universe had different plans.

She could feel his calloused hand run down her spine. It was comforting. “Ye can stay here for now, luv. We’ll worry about it after Mac and Wyatt leave.”

Fuck. She had almost forgotten they were waiting for them downstairs. “Shit.” She lifted her head and looked at him. “We should probably take showers and get back down there. I told Mac a couple of minutes. It’s been over an hour.”

Before he could say anything there was a knock on the door. Filip called out. “What do ye want?”

Jax’s voice was on the other side of the door, sounding vaguely amused. “You two plannin’ on makin’ an appearance soon? Mac is starting to freak out a little.”

Filip chuckled. “Give us a half hour, we’ll be down.”

Jax’s voice was still amused. “Okay. See ya then.” They heard him walk away from the door.

Filip sat up, bringing her with him. “Well luv, think we should get cleaned up and get down there.”

She laughed. “Probably. The next one to come up will be Tig, and he’ll just barge in.”

He laughed with her. “Nah, lass. Locked the door.”

She arched an eyebrow as she got up to head for the shower. “Do you really think that would stop him?”

Filip laughed. “If he knows what’s good for him, it would.” He continued to chuckle. “I outrank him.”

She gave him a bit of an exasperated look. “Once again, do you really think that would stop Tig?” She laughed and grabbed his hand, dragging him towards the bathroom. “Hell, he’d do it just to see if he could catch us in the middle of the act.” She was still laughing. “Then ask if he could at least watch.” 

She loved the laugh that came from him. “Yer not wrong luv, not at all.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Jax went back down to the main clubhouse, still chuckling to himself. When he sat back down, he looked over to Mac. “Chibs said they’d be down in about forty-five minutes.” He figured he’d add fifteen minutes to what his VP said, giving them a bit of a cushion.

Mac nodded. “Yeah, okay.” Then smiled a little. “Your Mom called while ya were up there, said something to Tig about a family dinner at her house in a couple of hours.”

He sighed. He knew his Mom was trying to make shit up to Harlow, but it might have been better if she had run it by the woman first. He looked at Tig. “You get to tell Harlow. I’m not doin’ it.”

Tig grinned. “Sure, why not? Haven’t been punched in a while.”

He shook his head at his freak of an SAA. “She’s got a hell of a punch.” His jaw was still sore.

That just made Tig grin wider. “Really?” His voice hopeful.

It was Wyatt who answered his SAA. “You’re a bigger freak than I thought you were Trager if you’re lookin’ forward to an ass kickin’ from her.”

He and Mac just started to laugh. He looked at Wyatt. “You have no idea.”

Tig just sat there grinning, drinking his beer. He was pretty positive the man was fantasizing about Harlow kicking his ass. 

He shook his head and lit the joint he had grabbed from his room on his way back down to the main clubhouse.

He smiled as Chibs and Harlow actually made it down in the thirty-minute time frame that his VP had given him.

He was impressed that neither one of them looked even mildly embarrassed at how long they kept Mac waiting. Nor the fact that it was obvious what they had been doing. 

She sat down at the table by Mac as Chibs went and grabbed beers for the two of them. As she lit a smoke, she looked at Mac and Wyatt with a wry grin. “Sorry ‘bout that, got a little distracted.”

Mac chuckled and patted her arm. “No worries Sunshine.” Wyatt laughed and nodded his agreement.

He looked over at Tig, who got the message. “Hey doll?”

She turned to Tig with a grin. “Yes?”

Tig grinned a little more. “Gemma called a little bit ago, she wants all of us at her house for dinner.”

Harlow arched an eyebrow and looked over to him. “Does she cook as well as Bobby?”

He chuckled. “Yeah darlin’ she does.”

Harlow smiled. “Then count me in. I’ll even be nice. I’m starving.”

Mac grinned at that. “So you still eat like you have a tapeworm then?”

She nodded vigorously. “Yeah.” Then looked at Tig again. He still had the grin from earlier. After she looked at Tig, she looked at him. “What’s his deal?” Then, as Chibs sat back down next to her. “Or do I even want to know?”

He shook his head with a laugh. “Probably not.”

She looked at Tig. “Whatever freak fantasy you’ve got goin’ on in your head, stop. Whatever it is, it’s not going to happen.” Then smiled at Tig as she took a drink of the beer Chibs brought her.

Tig grinned back. “Doesn’t mean I can’t hope doll.”

She arched an eyebrow. “You can hope, wish, and pray all you want.” She chuckled. “Still not gonna happen.”

He, Mac and Wyatt were laughing at grin that was still on Tig’s face. He looked over to see a smirk on Chibs’ face as the man took a drink of his beer. He had no idea what was going through his VP’s head, but the man seemed highly amused and a little contemplative.

Tig slid his chair back, grin still on his face. “Think I’m gonna go take a shower before we have to head to Gem’s.”

Harlow smiled up at him. “You have fun with that.”

He shook his head in amusement as Tig grinned down at her. “You have no idea doll.” And made his way out of the main clubhouse, back to his dorm room.

A little while later, he got up stating he was going to head over to his Mom’s. He wanted to spend a little time with the boys before everyone else came over.

The others nodded and said they probably wouldn’t be that far behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying it! Please feel free to leave any comments, concerns, or constructive criticisms!
> 
> Thanks to those who have clicked that kudo button and that have taken the tine to comment!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying it. Feel free to leave any comments, concerns or constructive criticisms!


End file.
